1 Samuel 24:1–22 David Spares Saul’s Life 

[Study Aired July 6, 2026]

In today’s study, we shall look at how David displayed incredible grace as He spared the life of king Saul in the cave of Engedi. This is because David had respect for the “Lord’s anointed” in spite of the pressure by his men. As a result, he overcame evil with good.

Rom 12:19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 
Rom 12:20  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 
Rom 12:21  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.  

Saul Went After David in the Cave of Engedi

1Sa 24:1  And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi. 

As we have stated in previous studies, Saul represents our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world or Babylon who have been rejected of ruling with Christ at the coming age when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. Saul returning from fighting the Philistines in verse 1, shows us that during our time in Babylon, we did win some victories over our flesh. In other words, we started off our walk with Christ on a good note in Babylon. However, over time, through imbibing false doctrines propagated in Babylon, we were hindered from obeying the truth.

Gal 5:7  Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 
Gal 5:8  This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.
Gal 5:9  A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 

David signifies the Lord’s elect. Engedi was a vibrant, freshwater oasis situated in the harsh Judean desert. The name Engedi means ‘fountain’ or ‘spring of the young goat.’ In the Bible, young goats represent the Lord’s elect. Therefore, David being in the wilderness of Engedi in verse 1, implies that although we are in this world of wilderness, as the Lord’s elect, we are favored to have access to the truth of the Lord’s word (fountain) signified by Engedi.    

2Th 2:13  But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.  (ESV)

Saul being told that David was in the wilderness of Engedi was of the Lord, who was using Saul as His instrument of judgment of David. This shows us that the Lord uses our brothers and sisters of the churches of this world to judge us, His elect, for the destruction of our flesh. For example, the Lord used the Jews to persecute the Lord’s disciples in the early church.  

Act 8:1: “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.” (NIV)

1 Th 2:14–15: “…For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out…” (ESV)

Act 13:50: “But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.” (NIV)

1Sa 24:2  Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. 

The number three thousand, on a negative note, denotes the Lord’s people who have fallen away. It therefore, represents our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world or Babylon. Saul taking three thousand men out of Israel to pursue David and his men shows us that it is our fallen away brothers and sisters in the church system of this world whom the Lord uses to persecute us.

Exo 32:28  And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell.

Jos 7:4  So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And they fled before the men of Ai. 

It is also significant to note that Saul and his men sought David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. Rocks in the Bible can signify our hiding place from the judgment of the Lord. In other words, rocks represent our natural attempts to avoid the judgment of the Lord.

1Sa 13:6  When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits.

Rev 6:15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

As we are aware, we, His elect, are the wild goats which were set free into the wilderness to suffer, to complement the suffering of Christ. 

Lev 16:9  And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. 
Lev 16:10  But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. 

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:  

1Sa 24:3  And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave. 

On his journey to where David and his men were, Saul came across several sheepfolds on the side of the road, and one of them was built near the entrance to the cave where David and his men were hiding at the back. In this case, the cave represents where we die to the flesh. 

Gen 23:11  Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.   

Gen 23:20  And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.

Saul relieving himself in the cave means our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world despise the Lord’s judgment of our flesh which leads to the death of our flesh. At a certain time of our walk with the Lord, we also despised the Lord’s judgment leading to the death of our flesh. 

Psa 107:10  Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and chains, 
Psa 107:11  because they rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. 

1Sa 24:4  And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily. 
1Sa 24:5  And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt. 
1Sa 24:6  And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.
1Sa 24:7  So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.

In the minds of the men with David, they thought that the Lord has given Saul to David to be murdered. However, David only cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe as evidence, to show Saul that he had the opportunity to kill him but refused. David cutting off the skirt of Saul’s robe signifies that the kingdom of Israel has been taken away from Saul and given to David. 

1Sa 15:27  And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. 
1Sa 15:28  And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou. 

Spiritually, we, His elect, have been chosen to reign with Christ at the expense of our brothers and sisters in Babylon. As we shall see later in the study, Saul himself confirmed David’s rulership when David showed him the cut skirt. In other words, we, His elect, have obtained mercy in this age at the expense of our brothers and sisters in Babylon.  

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. 

In verses 5 and 6, David later regretted for cutting off Saul’s skirt, because he regarded Saul as the Lord’s anointed, and therefore he thought that he should not have stretched forth his hand against him. 

1Ch 16:20  And when they (the people of Israel) went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people; 
1Ch 16:21  He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes,
1Ch 16:22  Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. 

David’s regret shows that he trembled at the word of the Lord and wanted to be obedient to it. On the other hand, the men with him were not yet trembling at the word of the Lord. This indicates their spiritual immaturity at that time of their walk with Christ. We all came to the body of Christ of the Lord’s elect in our immature stage, where we are given the meat of the Lord’s word to grow through what every joint supplies. 

Eph 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 
Eph 4:15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 
Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

As indicated in verse 7, David, as a leader, enjoined his men to have regard for the Lord’s anointed. His men therefore did not rise up against Saul as he left the cave. As the Lord’s elect, we must tremble at the word of the Lord. 

Isa 66:5  Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. 

David Confronts Saul

1Sa 24:8  David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself. 

It is instructive to note that it was when Saul looked behind him that he saw David bowing to him. It signifies that it is when we look back that we see ourselves as the Lord’s elect, submitting to the dictates of the leadership of the church system of this world or Babylon, when we started our walk with Christ. That was the time that we were swayed by every wind of doctrine and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming. 

Eph 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 

1Sa 24:9  And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men’s words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? 

In verse 9, David’s assertion that Saul listens to men is the reason why he wanted to hurt him. This implies that when we substitute the word of truth for the lies perpetuated by men, we end up hating the Lord’s elect as we blame them for our troubles. These doctrines of men lead to envy, hatred and murder of the true sons of God. It is through these doctrines of men which led the leadership of the church system of Jesus’ days, to hate and murder him. 

Mat 15:8  This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 
Mat 15:9  But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 

Col 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 
Col 2:9  For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

As He is so are we. It is the same doctrines of men which cause our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world to hate us and consider us as dead in the street of Jerusalem. 

Rev 11:7  And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 
Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.  

1Sa 24:10  Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD’S anointed.
1Sa 24:11  Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it. 
1Sa 24:12  The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.
1Sa 24:13  As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.  

As David mentioned to Saul, our brothers and sisters of the church system of this world think that the Lord’s elect or the church of the firstborn poses a threat to their reigning with Christ. Throughout the Bible, there were many instances of our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world considering us as the problem and not the solution. For example, Cain killed Abel thinking that Abel was the problem. Esau hated Jacob and wanted to kill him, because he thought that Jacob had robbed him of his inheritance. The Jews killed Jesus thinking He posed a threat to their traditional way of worship. In the same manner, the Jews wanted to kill Paul and the Lord’s disciples because they thought that they were the problem. 

Act 17:5  But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them (Paul and Silas) out to the people. 
Act 17:6  And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; 

Rom 11:7  What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded 
Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. 
Rom 11:9  And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: 
Rom 11:10  Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. 

As David stated in verse 12, our hands are not upon our brothers and sisters in Babylon. They do not recognize that it is the Lord who has the prerogative to show mercy to whom He wants to show mercy in this age. 

Rom 9:13  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. 
Rom 9:14  What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 
Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.      

1Sa 24:15  The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand. 

The Lord is indeed the Judge who pleads our cause and delivers us from those that He uses to afflict us. As we know from the word of the Lord, the Lord’s deliverance makes a way for us to escape the trial, as He grants us the grace to bear it. 

1 Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 

The reason the Lord may not immediately stop the affliction He brings our way but gives us grace to bear it is that He wants the affliction to accomplish a specific purpose in our lives in terms of learning more righteousness. This is what David learned later in his life, through the afflictions the Lord brought on him, using Saul as His instrument of judgment. 

Psa 119:71  It is good for me [David] that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. 

Psa 119:74  They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word. 
Psa 119:75  I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. 

1Sa 24:16  And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. 
1Sa 24:17  And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. 

It seems in verse 16 and 17, that Saul repented of his actions against David at that time, and went on to declare David as being more righteous than him. As we can see later in the review of this Book of Samuel, even after this encounter, he continued to pursue David to kill him.  What this is showing us is that repentance alone is not enough. We must bring forth fruit which is commensurate with our repentance. 

Luk 3:8  Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 

1Sa 24:18  And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not. 
1Sa 24:19  For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the LORD reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day. 

These verses imply that as the Lord’s elect, we must do good even when evil is meted out to us. 

Rom 12:17  Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

Rom 12:19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 
Rom 12:20  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 
Rom 12:21  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. 

As Peter stated, we must add to our faith, virtue or moral excellence, if we are to be assured of the reward of reigning with Christ. Moral excellence encompasses doing good to even those who do evil against us.

2Pe 1:5  And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 

David is Assured of the Kingship

1Sa 24:20  And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. 
1Sa 24:21  Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father’s house. 
1Sa 24:22  And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold.

From verse 20, we see that the Lord was assuring David through the mouth of Saul that he would reign as king of Israel. Just as the Lord said of the servant who hid the one talent that out of his own mouth, He would judge him. Saul admitting that David would become king attests of our reign over our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world, when the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.

Luk 19:22  And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: 

David swearing to Saul not to cut off his seed and that he would not destroy his name out of his father’s house, shows us that we are the saviors of our brothers and sisters in Babylon in the fullness of time. In other words, we, His elect, shall not cut off any of the Lord’s people who have gone astray. We shall be merciful to them even as the Lord has shown us mercy. 

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.   

Oba 1:21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S. 

May the Name of the Lord be praised for His wonderful plan of salvation. Amen!!

1 Samuel 19:1–24 Saul Tried to Kill David

[Study Aired May 25, 2026]

In today’s study, we shall look at four attempts from Saul to assassinate David. However, in all these attempts, He was delivered from them, through the intervention by Jonathan’s mediation, Michal, his wife, and Samuel’s protection, and by his own agility. 

The fact that there were four attempts on David’s life in this chapter, shows us the whole of the devil’s scheme to destroy us in our walk with the Lord. However, as the word of the Lord reminds us, no weapon formed or fashioned against us shall prosper.

Isa 54:17  No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD. 

Jonathan’s Intervention in Saving David’s Life 

1Sa 19:1  And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. 

Saul, in this context, represents the leaders of the church system of this world or Babylon. Jonathan, on the other hand, signifies our time as the Lord’s elect  in Babylon and Saul’s servants symbolize our brothers and sisters in Babylon. David on the other hand, stands for the Lord’s elect who have just left Babylon. With this in mind, it becomes easier to understand the spiritual significance of verse 1. What we are being told is that the message of the leaders of the church system of this world kills as we see Saul telling his son Jonathan and servants to kill David. In other words, their message is what puts us to death, spiritually.  

As we are aware, the church system of this world focuses on the physical interpretation of the word of the Lord or the letter, which kills. This ministration of death is what the law of Moses represents. 

2Co 3:6  who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 
2Co 3:7  Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 
2Co 3:8  will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 

Apart from the fact that the letter kills, the false doctrines propagated by these leaders of the church system of this world also kills. That is to say that the false doctrines from Babylon end up killing the hearers spiritually. 

2Pe 2:1  But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 
2Pe 2:2  And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 

1Sa 19:2  But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself: 
1Sa 19:3  And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee; and what I see, that I will tell thee. 

Jonathan delighted much in David is Jonathan loving David. It demonstrates the love that binds us together as the Lord’s elect. This is the love that Jesus prayed that we should have for one another as it shows that we are really His disciples. 

Joh 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 
Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.   

Jonathan telling David that Saul was seeking to kill him refers to when we come to realize in Babylon that the church system will only put us to death spiritually. That is what expedites our exit from Babylon. In other words, knowing that our continued fellowship with our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world represented by Saul will cause us to be spiritually dead, demands that we leave Babylon.    

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. 

Jonathan pleading with David to abide in a secret place and hide himself is the need to abide under the shadow of the Almighty, where we are hidden in Christ, such that we are delivered from the devil’s traps (the snare of the fowler) and from deadly plagues (noisome pestilence) of false doctrines of man’s wisdom and tradition, spewed from the pulpits of Babylon. 

Psa 91:1  He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 
Psa 91:2  I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 
Psa 91:3  Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 
Psa 91:4  He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Psa 91:5  Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;  

The question is, “How do we abide in the secret place of the most high under the shadow of the Almighty?”  Here in Psalm 91, we are given three clues as to what it means to abide in the secret place of the most high. In verse 4 of Psalm 91, we are told that truth shall be our shield and buckler. This implies that a key to abiding in the secret place of the most high is being given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. The second clue from Psalm 91 is as follows:

Psa 91:9  Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;  

Making the Most high our habitation involves the Lord coming to us with the spirit of His mouth to destroy our old man or the man of sin who sits in our temple, claiming himself to be God. The destruction of the man of sin is the judgment or the suffering marked out for us, which makes us abide in the secret place of the Lord.

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

The third sign that we are abiding under the shadow of the Almighty is as follows:

Psa 91:14  Because he (the elect) hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 

Our love towards the Lord is demonstrated by our obedience. Through our obedience, we are being protected under the secret place of the Most High – our hiding place.

In verse 3 of the study, Jonathan wanted to talk with his father Saul in the field to reconcile him with David. As indicated, Jonathan represents our walk as the Lord’s elect in Babylon. At that time of our walk, we did not have a clue that what was happening to us (David) is of the Lord, as He wants us to leave Babylon. We thought that the church system of which we belonged to, would come to understand our views of the scriptures. We therefore did not have a clue that the solution was to leave Babylon.  

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 

1Sa 19:4  And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good: 
1Sa 19:5  For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause? 
1Sa 19:6  And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain. 
1Sa 19:7  And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan shewed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past. 

As we can see from these verses, Jonathan was able to reconcile his father with David. This is to show us that our exit from Babylon is a process. We may be physically detached from the churches of this world, but yet retain its false doctrines which bind us to Babylon. At that time, both Jonathan and David did not know that Saul’s enmity against David was all of the Lord and that He was seeking for an occasion to judge David. 

Jdg 14:1  And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. 
Jdg 14:2  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. 
Jdg 14:3  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. 
Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.  

1Sa 19:8  And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him. 

As long as we are living, we have to contend with our flesh regularly. Here in verse 8, we see David battling the Philistines and through the mercy of the Lord, he came out victorious. The Philistines fleeing from David is to let us know that there are times of relief in our lives, where our flesh is under control. There are other times, too, that we have to rise up and fight our flesh which is influenced by the devil, with the full confidence that we shall be victorious in the final analysis, as we see David’s victory over the Philistines.

Ecc 3:8  A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. 

1Sa 19:9  And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand. 
1Sa 19:10  And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night. 

When a brother or sister becomes disobedient to the Lord and falls away, such a person is possessed by an evil spirit from the Lord, which troubles him or her. Just as the words of the Lord are spirit, false doctrines are also spirit from the devil. Therefore, Saul being troubled by an evil spirit from the Lord, means that those who fall away are troubled by the false doctrines in their hearts and minds. 

1Ti 4:1  Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 
1Ti 4:2  Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 

As we are aware, a spear or a sword in the positive sense represents the word of the Lord. However, the javelin or spear in the hand of Saul signifies false doctrines which come out of the smoke from his bottomless pit or his heart and mind, which darkens the sun and the air. That is to say that the javelin thrown at David in verse 10 signifies the false doctrines which darkens our understanding of the word of truth and makes us spiritually dead. 

David fleeing from Saul’s presence signifies our exit from Babylon. As we can see, David’s continued stay with Saul would have resulted in his death through the spear of Saul. It signifies that our continued stay in Babylon or the church system of this world would have resulted in our spiritual death through false doctrines of man’s wisdom and tradition. 

Michal’s Intervention in Saving David’s Life

1Sa 19:11  Saul also sent messengers unto David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David’s wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to night, tomorrow thou shalt be slain. 
1Sa 19:12  So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped. 

After escaping from Saul’s house, David went to Michal, his wife. Michal, in this case, represents the church system of this world or Babylon because of her affiliation to her father Saul. Usually, when we leave one Babylonian church, we end up with another Babylonian church thinking that would be better. However, the churches of this world or Babylon are the same in terms of their harlotry inclination and therefore are not faithful to Christ. 

Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.    

Michal telling David to escape with his life that night or risk being killed means that during our walk in the churches of this world, the Lord sometimes spoke to us through the churches to prepare our exit from it. As we are aware, the Lord even spoke through a donkey (a beast) to stop Balaam from his trip. 

Num 22:27  And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff. 
Num 22:28  And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?   

Michal helping David to escape by letting David down through a window implies that our escape from Babylon is a life or death matter and not through a conventional farewell through the door. We escape like a bird out of the snare of the fowler. It is also important to note that Michal helping David to escape also means that we are pushed out of the church system or Babylon by the church.  

Psa 124:7  Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. 
Psa 124:8  Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.  

1Sa 19:13  And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth. 
1Sa 19:14  And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. 
1Sa 19:15  And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him. 
1Sa 19:16  And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster. 
1Sa 19:17  And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee?

As indicated, Michal represents the church system of this world which is in bondage with her children through deception. We can see here in these verses that Michal was involved in deception as a way to preserve the life of David. This is to show us that the Lord uses both good and evil to achieve His purpose in our lives. 

Psa 139:12  Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. 

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. 

A typical example of how the Lord uses both good and evil to achieve His purposes is the story of how king Ahab was drawn to battle to die by a lying spirit proclaiming that Ahab would win the war. 

1Ki 22:20  And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
1Ki 22:21  And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him. 
1Ki 22:22  And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. 
1Ki 22:23  Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee. 

Saul Pursuing David to Ramah

1Sa 19:18  So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth. 

David fleeing and coming to Samuel at Ramah signifies our escape from the churches of this world, as we come to the church of the New Jerusalem or the Lord’s elect. The name Ramah means ‘height’ and Naioth denotes ‘dwelling’. David coming to Naioth in Ramah symbolizes the beginning of our spiritual elevation or height as we dwell with our brothers and sisters in the Lord in unity. When we come to the assembly of the firstborn or the Lord’s elect, we are helped by what every joint supplies, to escape from the flood of false doctrines spewed by the devil through the false teachers and apostles parading in the corridors of the church system of this world.  

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 
Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. 
Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 

1Sa 19:19  And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah. 
1Sa 19:20  And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.
1Sa 19:21  And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. 

These messengers sent by Saul represents false brethren who are secretly brought in to spy out our liberty in Christ with the purpose of bringing us into bondage, that is, kill us spiritually. 

Gal 2:4  And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: 
Gal 2:5  To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. 

The fact that these false messengers were sent three times by Saul to take David indicates the process of spiritual maturity that we must all go through as the Lord’s elect, resulting in our spiritual maturity, when we come to the church of the first born or the New Jerusalem. 

As we can see, these false messengers prophesied under the unction of the Holy Spirit when they came into the body, although their orientation was not to seek after the prize of the higher calling of God. We have seen how some have come into our fellowship being gifted with prophesying, but yet were easily offended, when they were challenged of their heretical teachings. Saul sending these messengers three times, means that their coming and going out of the body is all part of the process of our spiritual maturity through suffering (the significance of the number three).

Gal 1:6  I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 
Gal 1:7  not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 
Gal 1:8  But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 

1Sa 19:22  Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they be at Naioth in Ramah. 
1Sa 19:23  And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 
1Sa 19:24  And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets? 

Saul ending up in Naioth in Ramah in pursuit of David and the messengers he sent earlier to take down David are all the same in spiritual significance – the coming of false brethren into our midst to spy on our liberty in Christ with the purpose of bringing us into bondage, that is, killing us spiritually. However, in the case of Saul, we are given further information that he stripped off his clothes and prophesied as he lay naked throughout the day and night. 

Saul stripping off his clothes and lying naked signifies that as the body of Christ, we shall come to know the sinful motives of these false brethren who come in our midst, just as all things are naked and opened to the eyes of the Lord.   

Heb 4:13  Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. 

May we continue in Him having the full assurance that He who has started this good work in us shall see to its completion. Amen! 

1 Samuel 17:31–58 David and Goliath, Part 2

[Study Aired May 11, 2026]

As indicated in the previous study, chapter 17 is divided into two parts. We dealt with the first part last week. The second part, which is the study today, highlights how David came to the battlefield where Goliath was defying the armies of Israel, and his victory over Goliath. 

David’s enquiry about the reward for the one who was able to defeat Goliath brought him before Saul, where he demonstrated his bravery to Saul because of his past dealing with a lion and a bear. The study ends with David’s victory over Goliath and its impact on the people of Israel.   

Saul Sends for David

1Sa 17:31  And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him. 
1Sa 17:32  And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 
1Sa 17:33  And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. 

In the previous study, we looked at David enquiring from the people gathered for battle about the reward for conquering Goliath. David’s enquiry somehow came before Saul who requested David to be sent to him. Verse 31 therefore brings to the fore the providence of the Lord, which entails God’s sovereign, wise and loving governance over all creation, upholding and directing every detail to fulfill His purposes.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 

David represents the Lord’s elect. David assuring Saul in verse 32 that no Israelites should be worried but that he was ready to fight Goliath is to let us know that it is the Lord’s elect who are destined to fight and overcome the flesh in this age. The fact that David said that Israel should not be worried about Goliath means that our victory will ultimately become the victory of our brothers and sisters in the churches of this world and of the world. In other words, we are the saviors of the world. Our victory over the flesh is what will bring about victory over the flesh for the whole of the human race.

Oba 1:21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.   

Saul saying to David in verse 33 that David could not fight the Philistines because he is young and that Goliath is a veteran in warfare is to let us know the false doctrine in the hearts and minds of our brothers and sisters in the churches of this world regarding the fact that we cannot win the war against our flesh. 

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 

Saul’s assertion that Goliath is a veteran of war is valid because since creation, the flesh (Goliath) has dominated every human being except Jesus Christ and His Christ (the few chosen), who are given dominion over the flesh.

Rom 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 
Rom 8:4  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 

1Sa 17:34  And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 
1Sa 17:35  And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.

The father’s sheep in verse 34 signifies the church system of this world or Babylon where the leaders are the lion and the bear which destroy the Lord’s people (sheep) through the false doctrines in their mouth.   

Pro 28:15  As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people. 

Eze 22:25  There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.  

In verse 35, David went after the lion and the bear and delivered the sheep from their mouth. That is to say that as the Lord’s elect, represented by David, we are to deliver our brothers and sisters from the false doctrines from these false teachers and apostles (lions and bears) through the truth of the word of the Lord. As we are aware, the truth is like hail that destroys false doctrines propagated by these false teachers and apostles. 

Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

1Sa 17:36  Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. 
1Sa 17:37  David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.

In these verses, David was counting on his experience in dealing with the lion and the bear as a precursor to overcoming Goliath, the uncircumcised Philistine who had defied the armies of the living God. This shows us that the Lord prepares our hands to war through the experiences we go through, to make us overcomers of our flesh. These experiences signify the judgment or suffering we endure, which destroys our carnal minds and actions.

Psa 144:1  A Psalm of David. Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: 

Psa 18:34  He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. 

David given the nod to fight Goliath, the Philistine, by Saul in verse 37, is the Lord creating circumstances for us to go through suffering with the purpose of destroying our flesh. 

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 
1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

David Puts On Saul’s Armor

1Sa 17:38  And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. 
1Sa 17:39  And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him. 

To understand these verses, we need to look at Saul’s armor in comparison with the armor of Goliath, the Philistines. It is instructive to note that both armor were the same in terms of the material used. Both had a helmet of brass for the protection of the head and a coat of mail for the chest. 

1Sa 17:5  And he (Goliath) had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.  

As we have indicated, Goliath represents our flesh, and therefore his armor or the armor of Saul signifies our confidence in the flesh. As Paul showed us in the letter to the Philippians, our confidence in the flesh relates to our works in the law of Moses, which makes us have confidence in our own righteousness. In other words, we think our own righteousness will save us. 

Php 3:3  For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. 
Php 3:4  Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: 
Php 3:5  Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 
Php 3:6  Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 
Php 3:7  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 
Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 
Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 
Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.  

We must remember that Saul in this case, represents us, His elect, when we were in the church system of this world or Babylon where we had confidence in our own righteousness. In verse 39, David told Saul that he was not used to his armor and therefore could not use it, indicating that the law of Moses which we were used to in Babylon, cannot win us the war over our flesh.

For example, the Samaritan woman at the well with Jesus (she represents Babylon when Jesus met her) had confidence in the flesh or their way of worship on the mountain, but Jesus made her aware that it is those who worship the Lord in truth and in spirit who have no confidence in the flesh. 

Joh 4:20  Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 
Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 
Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 

It is as we turn to the Lord to worship Him in truth and in spirit that demonstrates that we have no confidence in the flesh. 

David Arms Himself

1Sa 17:40  And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. 
1Sa 17:41  And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him. 

David armed himself with three weapons – the shepherd’s stick (the staff), five smooth stones from a stream, and a sling in his hand. David’s preparation to fight Goliath emphasizes how we are to put on the whole armor of God so that we may stand against the wiles of the devil, who empowers our flesh. 

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

Let’s take a critical look at how David armed himself. Firstly, he took his staff. In a shepherd’s world, a staff is used to guide the sheep in the right direction. The staff is also what we lean on to help us to walk. In other words, the staff guides and helps us with our walk and what guides or helps with our walk is the word of the Lord. 

Exo 21:19  If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.

Psa 119:105  Nun Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. 

The staff representing the word of the Lord also means that it signifies the Lord’s indignation or the fire of the word of the Lord which destroys our flesh. It is the most potent weapon to possess as it destroys the flesh (Goliath).

Isa 10:5  O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.

The five stones chosen by David being made smooth by the brook is likened to gold, which refers to the word of the Lord. This emphasizes the importance of the truth of the word of the Lord in our victory over the flesh. The fact that there were five stones suggests that it is by grace through faith (the significance of the number 5) that we are given to understand the word of the Lord. 

Job 22:24  Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.   

Job 14:19  The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man. 

The sling is for the hurling of stones against Goliath. As indicated, the stones in the brook represent the word of the Lord which is the sword of the spirit.   

1Ch 12:2  They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows out of a bow, even of Saul’s brethren of Benjamin. 

Jdg 20:16  Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss. 

David drawing near to the Philistine after arming himself means that our understanding of the word of the Lord is what makes us ready to wage war against our flesh.  

1Sa 17:42  And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. 
1Sa 17:43  And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 
1Sa 17:44  And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. 

Goliath having disdain for David, teasing him for coming to him with a stave as if he was a dog, cursing and intimidating him, is to reveal how our flesh is puffed up with pride.

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

The pride of our flesh is the result of the healing of our deadly wound, making the whole world wonder after the flesh and thinking that no man can make war against it. 

Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 
Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 

The Battle is the Lord’s

1Sa 17:45  Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
1Sa 17:46  This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 
1Sa 17:47  And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands. 

We see that while confronting Goliath, the Philistine, David spoke the word of the Lord to the effect that he comes to Goliath in the name of the Lord. The Lord enjoins us to speak the word, because His word will accomplish what it is sent out to do. 

Isa 55:11 “So shall My Word be which goes out of My mouth; it will not return to me void (useless, without result) without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it”. (AMP) 

2 Co 4:13: “And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believed and therefore I spoke,’ we also believe and therefore speak”. (NKJV) 

We can see in verse 46 that David demonstrated his faith in the fact that he was certain that the Lord would grant him victory over Goliath as he mentioned to Goliath that he would feed his carcass to the fowls of the air and wild beasts. We must realize that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds of our flesh, casting down every imagination and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

2Co 10:4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 
2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 

Our faith is the shield that protects us from the fiery darts of the devil, who empowers our flesh. We are to put on the full armor of the Lord daily in our walk with Christ. It is not the physical armor that saves us. It is the Lord fighting our battles for us that brings us victory.  This is the Lord’s armor for us to put on daily:

Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 
Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 
Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 
Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 
Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 
Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

The Slaying of Goliath

1Sa 17:48  And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 
1Sa 17:49  And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. 
1Sa 17:50  So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. 
1Sa 17:51  Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. 

As indicated, the stone, which represents the word of the Lord, is what grants us the victory through faith. It is instructive to note that the stone smote Goliath, the Philistine, in his forehead. The forehead here signifies the carnal mind of our flesh, which is destroyed through the truth of the word of the Lord. The fact that it was mentioned in verse 50 that there was no sword in the hand of David is to demonstrate to us that our victory is wholly the work of the Lord. That is why David said that the battle is the Lord’s. 

1Co 15:57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The cutting off of the head of Goliath by David is to emphasize the destruction of the carnal mind of our flesh, which is enmity against the Lord. The fleeing of the Philistines when they saw that Goliath had been killed is to let us know that as we overcome the sin which easily besets us in our lives, it becomes  easier to overcome other sins of our flesh. 

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,  

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 
Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 
Rom 8:8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 

Whose Son is this?

1Sa 17:52  And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron. 
1Sa 17:53  And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents. 
1Sa 17:54  And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent. 
1Sa 17:55  And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell. 
1Sa 17:56  And the king said, Enquire thou whose son the stripling is. 
1Sa 17:57  And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 
1Sa 17:58  And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite. 

These verses show us our role as saviors of the world. The victory of David resulted in the Israelites gaining significant victory over the Philistines as they chased them to the gates of Ekron. Ekron means ‘eradication’ and therefore what we are being told is that during the lake of fire age, the whole of humanity, represented by the Israelites, shall be saved as they all put to death or eradicate the carnal minds of their flesh. David, through Abner, showed the head of Goliath to Saul, which prompted Saul to ask about whose son David was. This implies that in the fullness of time, the victory of the Lord’s elect will prompt many to ask, whose sons are we? That will be the time that all humanity will know our father’s name, which is written in our foreheads.

Rev 14:1  And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. 
Rev 14:2  And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: 
Rev 14:3  And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. 
Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. 
Rev 14:5  And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.  

May the Lord continue to help us to become overcomers in this age. Amen!!

1 Samuel 16:1–23 David Anointed King

[Study Aired April 27, 2026]

Today’s study begins the story of David, who became the king of Israel. The study can be divided into three parts. The first part has to do with the Lord commissioning Samuel to anoint a king from among the sons of Jesse in Bethlehem to replace Saul.  The second part shows how the Lord chose David from among the sons of Jesse. The third section has to do with Saul being possessed by an evil spirit and therefore requiring David to play the harp to relieve him.

The Lord Commissioning Samuel to anoint a King

1Sa 16:1 And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. 

This verse shows us how Samuel continued to mourn the rejection of Saul as king. Inasmuch as we feel the pain of losing a brother or sister, we must continue to focus on the race that is marked out for us since our brother or sister’s rejection is all of the Lord. 

Verse 1 also indicates that to be sent by the Lord requires that we fill our horn with oil. Horn in the Bible signifies strength on a positive note, and oil is a symbol of the Spirit of the Lord. Therefore, the sending of Samuel means that as the Lord’s elect, we must be strengthened by His spirit. 

Eph 3:16  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

Act 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.  

The verse above also implies that as the Lord’s elect, denoted by Samuel, we must go to the house of bread (the meaning of Bethlehem) or the church of the Lord’s elect in order to be anointed as king, through what every joint supplies. Since only one of the sons of Jesse is to be anointed as king, this shows us that many are called but few are chosen in this age to be kings. We are therefore privileged to be called and chosen in this age. 

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen. 

Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. 

It is instructive to note that the name Jesse means ‘I possess.’ It is the Lord who possesses or rules over the church of the Lord’s elect. 

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 

1Sa 16:2  And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD. 
1Sa 16:3  And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee. 

Samuel was going to anoint a successor to Saul. However, the fact that Saul was still the king of Israel means that what Samuel was going to do would create a major problem. The Lord therefore gave Samuel the wisdom to go to Jesse requesting him to accompany him for a sacrifice. It was during this sacrifice that David would be anointed. These verses therefore suggest that we must apply wisdom from the Lord to guide us in executing our God-given mandate here on earth. 

Pro 4:7  Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. 

Jas 1:5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 
Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

According to the word of the Lord, wisdom is defined as the fear of the Lord. This fear of the Lord entails applying knowledge to live righteously and therefore avoid evil. In the verses under discussion, Samuel applied the knowledge (wisdom) that the Lord had given to him to avoid evil. 

Pro 9:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. 

Here in Proverbs 9:10, the Lord is showing us that the knowledge that He has given us must result in our understanding of how we are to avoid evil in every circumstance we encounter. That was exactly what happened to Samuel. He applied the wisdom or the knowledge from the Lord to avert a crisis.

The fact that the Lord told Samuel that He would show him what he should do as he invited Jesse to join him in sacrificing to the Lord, is to make us understand that the Lord does not give us the full picture of what we are to do. He takes us step by step, and in so doing we learn to become dependent on him.

1Sa 16:4  And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? 
1Sa 16:5  And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. 

A key takeaway from these verses is that if we are to offer our bodies as living sacrifice unto the Lord, then it behooves us to sanctify ourselves, as we see Samuel enjoining the elders, Jesse and his sons to sanctify themselves. To sanctify means to be holy or set apart for the Lord. In one sense, the work of sanctification is the work of the Lord. 

1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:  

In another sense, we must sanctify ourselves, for the Scripture commands us to be holy.

1Pe 1:15  But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 
1Pe 1:16  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

1Th 4:3  For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: 

The question is, “how can we sanctify ourselves?” The word of the Lord shows us what we have to do. We are cleansed or sanctified by the washing of water by the word. In other words, we are sanctified as our understanding is enlightened by the truth of the Lord’s word. The fire of the word of the Lord has the cleansing power to destroy our old man or flesh and make us holy or sanctified, such that we can offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord. This fire is our judgment. We can see therefore, that we bring nothing to the table and that our sanctification is all the work of the Lord. 

Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 

Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 
Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

1Sa 16:6  And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD’S anointed is before him. 
1Sa 16:7  But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. 
1Sa 16:8  Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. 
1Sa 16:9  Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. 
1Sa 16:10  Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these. 
1Sa 16:11  And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.

The rejection of each of the seven sons of Jesse to become a king of Israel by Samuel under the guidance of the Lord, signifies the complete rejection of all of the old testament prophets up to John the Baptist, in favor of the Lord’s disciples to date, who are destined to become kings in the fullness of time. 

1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 
1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 
1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Samuel’s admiration of the stature and the countenance of the eldest son, Eliab, signifies our admiration of the law of Moses, when we came out of the world (Egypt). All the Old Testament prophets were in admiration of the law of Moses until Christ came. The following verses show the beauty of the law of Moses which was our school master, until faith came through Christ:

Psa 19:7  The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 
Psa 19:8  The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 
Psa 19:9  The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. 
Psa 19:10  More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Psa 119:72  The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver. 

However, the Lord’s rejection of Eliab and the other sons of Jesse signifies that without us, His elect, they (the prophets) would not be made perfect. 

Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 
Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. 

In another perspective, the rejection of the seven sons of Jesse in favor of the youngest is made clear in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, where many went early and worked hard, but it was the few who went late in the eleventh hour, who were paid first. In this study, it was David, the youngest, who received his wages first of becoming a king of Israel, as we shall see later. 

Mat 20:8  So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. 
Mat 20:9  And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
Mat 20:10  But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. 
Mat 20:11  And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, 
Mat 20:12  Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 
Mat 20:13  But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 
Mat 20:14  Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. 
Mat 20:15  Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? 
Mat 20:16  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. 

David Chosen and Anointed

1Sa 16:12  And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. 
1Sa 16:13  Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. 

When David came before Samuel, he had a healthy complexion, attractive eyes, and a handsome appearance. He was chosen by the Lord among his brothers to become a king and was therefore anointed with oil. David represents us, the Lord’s elect, who are promised to reign with Christ in the fullness of time. Just as David was anointed with the spirit of the Lord coming on him, we, His elect, are also given the Holy Spirit of promise, which is to make sure that we will be given what the Lord has promised us – our inheritance. 

Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.   

David in Saul’s Service

1Sa 16:14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him. 
1Sa 16:15  And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. 

When a brother or sister becomes disobedient to the Lord and falls away, such a person is possessed by an evil spirit from the Lord, which troubles him or her. Just as the words of the Lord are spirit, false doctrines are also spirits from the devil. Therefore, Saul being troubled by an evil spirit from the Lord, means that those who fall away are troubled by the false doctrines in their hearts and minds. 

1Ti 4:1  Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 
1Ti 4:2  Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;    

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 
1Jn 4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 

Rev 16:13  And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 
Rev 16:14  For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 

1Sa 16:16  Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well. 
1Sa 16:17  And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. 
1Sa 16:18  Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD is with him.

In verse 16, we see that a brother or sister who falls away, can be restored only by a cunning player on an harp. We all started well at the early stages of our walk with Christ before we fell away through false teachers and apostles, parading in the corridors of the church system of this world. 

Gal 5:7  Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 
Gal 5:8  This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. 
Gal 5:9  A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 
2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 
2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 
2Co 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. 

In the Book of Revelation, we are shown that it is the Lord’s elect who are cunning players of the harp. This implies that it is a brother or sister, who is an elect, who can restore a brother or a sister who falls away. Here in Revelation 14:2, it is the voice of the harpers which can restore a brother or sister. This voice is the truth of the Lord’s word which as hail, destroys the false doctrines in our heavens or hearts and minds.

Rev 14:2  And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: 
Rev 14:3  And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. 
Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.  

Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. 

In verses 17 and 18, the search for a harper or the Lord’s elect, ended up in Jesse’s house in Bethlehem. As indicated earlier in the study, Jesse means “I possess” and Bethlehem denotes “house of bread.” The house of bread signifies the church of the Lord’s elect which is the Lord’s possession. This shows us that it is in the assembly of the Lord’s elect that harpers can be found, who represent the Lord’s firstborn or His redeemed.

The description of the cunning harper is that he must be skillful in playing the harp, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, a man of good presence, and the LORD being with him. That is the description of the Lord’s elect. We may think we are not up to these standards highlighted, but that is how the Lord sees us!  Inasmuch as we are not to think highly of ourselves, we must see how the Lord sees us – because He sees the end from the beginning.  

Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Isa 46:10  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:    

1Sa 16:19  Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep. 
1Sa 16:20  And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul. 
1Sa 16:21  And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer. 
1Sa 16:22  And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight. 
1Sa 16:23  And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. 

David being with the sheep in verse 19, spiritually signifies that he was with the assembly of the Lord’s elect. As we continue to study to show ourselves approved of the Lord like David, He will use us at the right time, to deliver those to whom He sends us, from evil spirits or false doctrines. 

Verse 20 shows us that David did not go to Saul empty-handed. His father, Jesse, supplied him with a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat to be sent to Saul.  This is to show us that the Lord gives us the appropriate words (bread and wine) and the means to minister effectively on His behalf. 

Mat 10:20  For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 

When David came to Saul in verse 21 and 22, Saul loved him greatly and found favor in his sight. This is to make us aware that the Lord will grant us favor in the sight of men at the appropriate time to help us. For example, when the Israelites were planning to kill Paul, the Lord granted him favor in the sight of the chief captain who asked his men to protect him on his journey to Felix, the governor.   

Act 23:23  And he called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night;
Act 23:24  And provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the governor.

As indicated in a previous study, an armor bearer signifies all those that the Lord brings our way to help or encourage us with our walk with Christ. David becoming the armor bearer of Saul is to help Saul overcome the evil spirits or the false doctrines in his heart and mind. In verse 23, through the ministration of David, Saul was relieved of the evil spirits. It shows us our role as the Lord’s elect in helping destroy the false doctrines in our brothers and sisters’ hearts and minds through what every joint supplies. 

2Ti 2:20  But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. 
2Ti 2:21  If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. 

Amen!

1Ki 14:1-31 “…He revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amo 3:7)

[Study Aired April 14, 2022]

1Ki 14:1  At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. 
1Ki 14:2  And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people. 
1Ki 14:3  And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child. 
1Ki 14:4  And Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age. 
1Ki 14:5  And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman. 
1Ki 14:6  And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings. 
1Ki 14:7  Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel, 
1Ki 14:8  And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes; 
1Ki 14:9  But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back: 
1Ki 14:10  Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone. 
1Ki 14:11  Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken it. 
1Ki 14:12  Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die. 
1Ki 14:13  And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. 
1Ki 14:14  Moreover the LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now. 
1Ki 14:15  For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger. 
1Ki 14:16  And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin. 
1Ki 14:17  And Jeroboam’s wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died; 
1Ki 14:18  And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet. 
1Ki 14:19  And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 
1Ki 14:20  And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead. 
1Ki 14:21  And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess. 
1Ki 14:22  And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done. 
1Ki 14:23  For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree. 
1Ki 14:24  And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. 
1Ki 14:25  And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem: 
1Ki 14:26  And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. 
1Ki 14:27  And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king’s house. 
1Ki 14:28  And it was so, when the king went into the house of the LORD, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber. 
1Ki 14:29  Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 
1Ki 14:30  And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. 
1Ki 14:31  And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead. 

What God reveals to the prophets of old (Amo 3:7) is typical of what He reveals to the body of Christ today, and what is being revealed to God’s elect is that a trumpet, which represents God’s judgments, must be blown in the heavens of those who are being sanctified through judgment in this age (1Pe 4:17, 1Pe 4:12).

Amo 3:7  Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

That trumpet spoken of in the book of Amos represents the day of the Lord, and these verses (Amo 3:6-8, Amo 3:14-15) parallel very well with the events that are going to unfold now in the life of Jeroboam who represents the judgments and wrath of God which are being poured out upon our old man of sin who must be destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming into our heavens (2Th 2:8).

Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? 
Amo 3:7  Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. 
Amo 3:8  The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy? 

Amo 3:14  That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. 
Amo 3:15  And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD. 

It all just sounds so dire, and it is for the old man within us, but God encourages the body to exhort one another daily “lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb 3:12-13) as we die daily and overcome sin through Christ who gives us the power to endure His judgments and make sense of the fiery trials and much tribulation we are promised through this life (Act 14:22).

This time of great trial upon Jeroboam and his family and the nation of Israel symbolizes the fiery trials of our life in this age of judgment that is upon God’s elect (1Pe 4:17), and yet there is always hope being shown in the midst of these tragic events that were befalling Israel, expressed through the life of king David who typifies Christ “and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes“. So we look to Christ today (Heb 12:1-2) with the confidence that He is the one who is raising these storms in our lives, or blowing the trumpet in the city, that brings us to see the evil in our city which causes us to fear God. This fear is a good thing because then we will cry out and are heard as a result of that Godly fear which God is working within His workmanship that we are (Heb 5:7, Eph 5:30, Eph 2:10). God is showing us through this story of Israel and Judah’s division what great division and sickness there is when Christ is not on the throne of our hearts ruling and reigning as He ought (Isa 1:5-6).

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 

Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Below are some inspired examples of how the word exhort is used in God’s word.  All of these profitable words (2Ti 3:16) have been given to the body of Christ today so that we don’t lose heart and start to despise prophecy, and this is truly an ongoing work in the lives of those who are being saved through Christ. It is tragic what befalls mankind throughout history, and perilous times are going to come to a crescendo for this world which we are told to understand (2Ti 3:1). We must remember that and not despise prophecy which can shine for us as a light in a dark place (2Pe 1:19). This happens within us when we are blessed to see how all these prophecies that involve lying and betrayal and murder and covetousness are all for our sakes and reveal to us how God can cause circumstances in our lives that require His judgment which will bring about the peaceable fruit of righteousness in the end (Job 2:10, Ecc 7:8, Mat 28:20, Jer 29:11).

Job 2:10  But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips. 

Ecc 7:8  Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Mat 28:20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. 

Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

How we can help each other reach that expected end:

Heb 3:12  Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Heb 3:13  But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 

Act 2:38  Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
Act 2:39  For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 
Act 2:40  And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

1Th 5:14  Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. 

1Ti 2:1  I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men.

2Ti 4:2  Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 

Tit 2:6  Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.

Jud 1:3  Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. 

2Pe 1:19  We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 

Isa 45:19  I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: [Amo 3:7] I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain [1Co 15:58]: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right [Jer 29:11].

All prophecy that is being revealed to the body of Christ today is given to us via the one true Prophet of Israel who all these other prophets only typify. That prophet of course is Christ who edifies, exhorts and comforts us (1Co 14:3) through God’s spirit which is working in the body of Christ “to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:” (Eph 3:10-11, Rom 8:28).

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Christ in us, our hope of glory within (Col 1:27), inspired these words John uttered as a messenger or angel of God which we all are to each other: “I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (Rev 19:10)

1Ki 14:1  At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. 
1Ki 14:2  And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people. 
1Ki 14:3  And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child. 
1Ki 14:4  And Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.

Nothing is hidden from God and nothing is hidden from God’s elect that needs to be revealed from our Father (Heb 4:13), and this is especially true regarding judgment as God knows how to search our reins and try us to see what is within us (Psa 26:2, Psa 139:23-24).

Heb 4:13  Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Psa 26:2  Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. 

Psa 139:23  Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 
Psa 139:24  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. 

This sickness of Jeroboam’s son was used by the Lord to bring Jeroboam into judgment for all the evil that he had done in his life. When we first go into Babylon we think that our many wonderful works can cover our transgressions and unchanged hearts. That is what this veiled disguise of Jeroboam’s wife represents who is wearing her own clothes and eating her own food even while she seeks out the counsel of God via the prophet at her husband’s bequest (Isa 4:1). Her own food is represented by the fleshly number ten so it is “ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey” that are sent to find out the truth of the matter in regard to what is going to happen to her son who represents the false doctrines that are in the house of Jeroboam (Psa 144:11, Eph 4:14). Going to Shiloh represents going into Babylon where we do encounter kings and prophets who desire to see what we see but they cannot (Luk 10:24). Ahijah is just such a prophet who has been correct in past prophecies (1Ki 11:29-39), and so Jeroboam believes that whatever this prophet says is going to come to pass (Deu 18:22). Another witness that Ahijah was able to prophesy truthfully is given to us in the statement: “But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.” It is with age, or by reason of use (Heb 5:14) we could say, that we gain the ability to see truth which happens as a result of our confession to God that we are blind and in continual need of His healing typified by Ahijah (Joh 9:41, Mar 2:17).

Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 

Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth. 

Mar 2:17  When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

1Ki 14:5  And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman.
1Ki 14:6  And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.

This is the confirmation given to us that nothing is hidden from God who reveals to the prophet via the holy spirit what is coming, and the prophet wastes no time in addressing this lying spirit by asking, “Why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.” This situation is reminiscent of Ananias and Sapphira who had this lying spirit that resulted in death that created fear in the church as a result of what God caused to be manifest in the lives of Ananias and Sapphira for our sake (Act 5:11).

Act 5:11  And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things. 

2Co 4:15  For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. 

1Ki 14:7  Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel,
1Ki 14:8  And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes; 
1Ki 14:9  But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back: 

Keeping in remembrance that Israel represents Aholah and Judah Aholibah (Eze 23:4), when we read these verses we can see that God is showing us, through Jeroboam and his reign, what we do when we become independent of our Head, represented by Judah. It’s not that Judah is better than Israel. To the contrary, as we will see they are both wicked and ruled by wicked idolatrous kings, which shows us that when we initially come out  of ‘Babylon’ or ‘Jerusalem below’, God does not give us the ability to properly rule and reign over our heavens, and that is reflected in our earth, our bodies. As a result of that we reflect a spirit of ‘greasy grace’ which is what Jeroboam’s reign typifies. He was going to do what he wanted with the rulership that was given to him, just like Solomon and just like Rehoboam. The only difference now with Jeroboam and Rehoboam as opposed to Solomon is that these two kings have become two-fold more the child of hell that Solomon was (Mat 23:14-16), and show us the natural state of affairs for our old man who must wax worse and worse before being destroyed.

This separation of Israel and the judgment that must come upon both nations is typical of how God is going to ultimately reconcile all the world making the body and the head one, but only after it has been divided. The old man-head is Judah and the old man-body is Israel in other words, and the new man-Head is Christ the lion of the tribe of Judah, and the new Body is the Israel of God, the elect of God (Rev 5:5, Gal 6:16).

Rev 5:5  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

Gal 6:16  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. 

1Ki 14:10  Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.

1Ki 14:11  Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken it.
1Ki 14:12  Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die. 

This is a prophecy of what will happen to us when our old man enters into the city, Shiloh, which represents in the positive sense coming before Christ. It’s not a pretty picture God paints, as nothing is hidden from Him who drags us to Christ (Joh 6:44), and this is done for the express purpose of bringing “evil upon the house of Jeroboam“. This is what must happen to our old man as described in these graphic details that just tell us flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God and how God has very little regard for flesh: “Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.” What we are shown is that nothing will be left of our old man, nothing in our heavens and nothing in our earth, “Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken it.” This is what is required in order for all things to become new in Christ, and so we are told, “Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.” It is only when we are raised in heavenly places that this destruction can begin of our old man, symbolized by the child that shall die (2Sa 12:13-14, Eph 2:6).

2Sa 12:13  And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
2Sa 12:14  Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

1Ki 14:13  And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.
1Ki 14:14  Moreover the LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now. 
1Ki 14:15  For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger. 
1Ki 14:16  And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin. 

All the world in time, Israel in type, will lament the death of the old man symbolized by this child of Jeroboam, and God will provide the means for us to endure that death and put it behind us via the “king over Israel” who represents Christ who is the righteous reed (Rev 21:15-16) who knows how to execute judgment in the earth stated this way: “For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger.“

What a telling statement for us! God will “give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.” God is showing us through this example of disobedience in the life of Jeroboam that his sins affected the whole nation of Israel. All the world, in other words, can be affected by the sins of any other person, and this is very clear for the body of Christ as a little leaven can leaven the whole lump (Gal 5:9). We are being admonished through this story to examine ourselves and to understand that our actions have consequences not just for ourselves but for the entire body of Christ. When we sin, it is against God, against His workmanship which we are (Gal 6:7-8, Gen 39:9, Heb 12:15).

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 
Gal 6:8  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 

Gen 39:9  There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? 

Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

1Ki 14:17  And Jeroboam’s wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died;
1Ki 14:18  And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.

It is at “the threshold of the door” that God’s chastening grace puts to death our false doctrines represented by the death of the child (Eze 43:8, Zep 1:8-17), and the threshing floor is analogous to an area where God’s saving grace unfolds in the life of those who are being crushed in this life under the great millstone, Jesus Christ (Mat 21:44). He is working all these events as a great stone from heaven who is destroying the image of the beast that we all naturally start off as (Dan 2:34, Ecc 3:18).

Eze 43:8  In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger. 

Zep 1:8  And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD’S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel. 
Zep 1:9  In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit. 

Zep 1:16  A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. 
Zep 1:17  And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. 

Mat 21:42  Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? 
Mat 21:43  Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Mat 21:44  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

What this story of Jeroboam’s son dying tells us is that this child within us must die as a seed in order for life to come out of that experience of death: “And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.” (Joh 12:24)

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

“All Israel” within us will initially mourn the loss of “houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake” that we have forsaken in order to hold onto the words of eternal life (Joh 6:68), and if God will give us the strength through Christ to endure those losses (Php 4:13) and put them in perspective as nothing (Php 3:8) compared to the glory that will be revealed to us (Rom 8:18), it will be because God has ordained that in our lives to His glory to be overcomers through Christ (Mat 19:26-30)).

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Mat 19:26  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. 
Mat 19:27  Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? 
Mat 19:28  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 
Mat 19:29  And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. 
Mat 19:30  But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

1Ki 14:19  And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
1Ki 14:20  And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead. 

This verse 19 could read: ‘the rest of the acts of our old man, how we warred against God’s spirit, and how our flesh had dominion over us are all documented as a witness against the unconverted kings of Israel within us.’ One day that is what Jeroboam and his wife will intimately come to know of their lives representing our Adamic struggles that can only be conquered through Christ (Rom 8:37). Jeroboam’s reign is a witness of our old man who must die and sleep with our fathers, and so we read: “And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years.” The cycle of sin just continues on in our life until the son of God sets us free, which is an ongoing dying daily process (Joh 8:36), and so we see his son Nadab^H5070 who would now reign “in his stead” have a name that represents the unchanged spirit of Jeroboam’s lineage that is going to continue to use their liberties in rulership as an occasion for their own flesh (Gal 5:13), which is what we do until we don’t, through Christ.

Gal 5:13  For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

H5070
nâdâb
naw-dawb’  

From H5068; liberal; Nadab, the name of four Israelites: – Nadab.

H5068 
nâdab
naw-dab’

A primitive root; to impel; hence to volunteer (as a soldier), to present spontaneously: – offer freely, be (give, make, offer self) willing (-ly).

1Ki 14:21  And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess. 
1Ki 14:22  And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.
1Ki 14:23  For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree. 
1Ki 14:24  And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. 

Both Jeroboam and Rehoboam do not figuratively inherit the kingdom as they represent our old man in his most depraved state, and so we read first of Jeroboam: “But hast done evil above all that were before thee” (1Ki 14:9), and then of Rehoboam who was the king of Judah: “Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.” How can they both be “above all“? Who is the worst here? What we are being shown is that we are all the chief of sinners (1Ti 1:15), and there is no contradiction being made. Both the head is sick (Judah), and the body, from the foot to the head, is sick as well. In other words, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” applies to us all.

Isa 1:5  Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 
Isa 1:6  From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. 

The Lord is the one who sought the occasion against Rehoboam’s^H7346 flesh, and we only need look at the names and their definitions mentioned in 1 Kings 14:21 to understand why it was inevitable that they would “built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.” The outward manifestation of this idolatrous controlling spirit, which God will burn out of all mankind in time, has fruits that are demonstrated in (1Ki 14:24) which reads: “And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.“

H7346
rechab‛âm 
rekh-ab-awm’

From H7337 and H5971; a people has enlarged; Rechabam, an Israelite king: – Rehoboam.

H7337
râchab 
raw-khab’

A primitive root; to broaden (intransitively or transitively, literally or figuratively): – be an en- (make) large (-ing), make room, make (open) wide.

Mat 23:5  But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
Mat 23:6  And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
Mat 23:7  And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
Mat 23:8  But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

It was purposed of the Lord to have Rehoboam reign “forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there.” This choosing of the Lord was for our sakes to remind us that we all start off as Rehoboam, wanting to control everything, which is all that the man of sin within us knows. The ‘forty one’ represents not just tribulation but tribulation-plus-one seeing this corrupt king who represents the man of sin in us is going to be rooted out and exposed by the day of the Lord, which the ‘one’ added to ‘forty’ represents. ‘Seventeen’ years shows the same principle, seven being the complete judgment upon our flesh by way of the day of the Lord which is what must happen in order for the new man to be formed (1+7=8).

Rehoboam’s mother’s name was “Naamah^H5279 an Ammonitess^H5984” telling us that Rehoboam was born of the pleasures of sin for a season, shapen in iniquity in other words as we all our (Heb 11:25, Psa 51:5) and revealing to us that we all must be in bondage to sin until we are dragged to Christ. We then spend the rest of our time in this life fulfilling these words by the grace through faith process we’ve been called to “Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.”

H5279 
na‛ămâh 
nah-am-aw’

Feminine of H5277; pleasantness; Naamah, the name of an antediluvian woman, of an Ammonitess, and of a place in Palestine: – Naamah.

H5277
na‛am 
nah’-am

From H5276; pleasure; Naam, an Israelite: – Naam.

H5984
‛ammônı̂y 
am-mo-nee’

Patronymic from H5983; an Ammonite or (adjectively) Ammonitish: – Ammonite (-s).

H5983 
‛ammôn
am-mone’

From H5971; tribal, that is, inbred; Ammon, a son of Lot; also his posterity and their country: – Ammon, Ammonites.

Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 

1Ki 14:25  And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem: 
1Ki 14:26  And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. 
1Ki 14:27  And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king’s house. 
1Ki 14:28  And it was so, when the king went into the house of the LORD, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber. 

It is the faith of Christ that is represented by the “shields of gold“, and when it is taken away from us as it was with Rehoboam, the truth is replaced with the lies of the devil “in their stead brasen shields”, showing what happens to us when we trust in our flesh and not in God, who is our buckler and shield (Psa 35:2-3). Satan is the one God causes to take away even that which we thought we had and gives it to another (Mat 25:29). This is part of the chastening grace of God we experience in this life typified by Shishak, a type of Satan that buffets us exactly to the degree God knows our old man needs: “And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem.” (1Co 5:5, 2Co 12:7)

Mat 25:29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

2Co 12:7  And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 

Psa 35:2  Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. 
Psa 35:3  Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.

Rehoboam did not just experience the gold shields taken away that represent the faith of Christ, figuratively Shishak took away the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water: “he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house; he even took away all.” (Isa 3:1)

Isa 3:1  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, 

In their stead, Rehoboam replaced the shields of gold with brasen shields and “committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king’s house“, showing us that in type and shadow his faith stood in the wisdom of men and not in the power of God (1Co 2:5). These orders and actions of Rehoboam, “And it was so, when the king went into the house of the LORD, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber” is another way of saying the Lord was not building this house or guarding it, seeing it was the arm of man that was protecting it and not the living God (Psa 127:1).

1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

1Ki 14:29  Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 
1Ki 14:30  And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.
1Ki 14:31  And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.

The chapter ends by revealing that “the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?“, and in Jeroboam’s case we read: “And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.” The “chronicles of the kings of Judah” are part of the oracles of God as opposed to Jeroboam of whose death and burial we are told, “and he slept with his fathers.” We’re not comparing Rehoboam and Jeroboam whose flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and so it reads of Rehoboam the same way as it did with Jeroboam: “Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David.” There is one important detail to notice however, and that is that Rehoboam’s lineage is connected to Christ as he was buried in “the city of David“, and Jeroboam has no claim to this Jewish lineage as a reminder to us that salvation is typically of the Jews (Rom 3:1-2, Rom 2:29). Again Rehoboam and Jeroboam were both carnal kings with carnal predecessors, “And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days” symbolizing for us that the spirit is against the flesh and the flesh is against the spirit (Gal 5:17).

Rehoboam’s mother’s name was Naamah, who was an Ammonitess, and 1 Kings 14:30 in the PNBkjv shows the typical origins of Rehoboam’s flesh and blood that reveals to us how God sees us before we ‘come out of her my people’, as being seduced by the pleasures of this world, being spiritually blind inbreds who are of our father the devil who is the god of this world who rules over the sea of humanity negatively.

1Ki 14:31  And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead. 

1Ki 14:31 and (the people grow) slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of (beloved). And his mother’s name was (pleasantness) an (inbred). And (my father’s sea) his son reigned in his stead. [PNBkjv]

We started our study today by considering the title “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amo 3:7), and the way God does this is by giving us His spirit that opens our blinded eyes, giving us the ability to compare spiritual with spiritual using the physical (1Co 2:13).

[Study Aired February 3, 2022]

1Ki 9:1  And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do, 
1Ki 9:2  That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. 
1Ki 9:3  And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. 
1Ki 9:4  And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: 
1Ki 9:5  Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. 
1Ki 9:6  But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: 
1Ki 9:7  Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people: 
1Ki 9:8  And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house? 
1Ki 9:9  And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil. 

God’s word helps us gain the right spiritual perspective as to what these type and shadow events we are reading of in 1 Kings 9:1-9 reveal about ourselves as the body of Christ today (1Pe 1:12), and in order to receive these truths for what they mean for us personally, we are told in the next two verses what we must do:

1Pe 1:13  Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1Pe 1:14  As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

We are fashioning ourselves through Christ’s grace (Php 2:12-13), which favour manifests through the chastening and scourging we endure in this life (Heb 12:6), teaching us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts in this age (Tit 2:11-12). He gives us the power and wisdom to be able to see all these physical events of which we read in the word of God, comparing spiritual with spiritual, using the physical as we overcome, fighting a good fight of faith (1Co 2:13, 1Ti 6:12). That exercise takes the girding up of our minds, along with hope within that the grace of God will continue to be brought to God’s elect, which favor is to receive the wedding garments, the righteousness of Christ, the increase that comes from God (1Co 3:6), with which we must be found and are being found with “at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Rev 1:3, Rev 19:8).

1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 

1Ti 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

1Co 3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. 

Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 

The title of this study is taken from 1 Kings 9:8 where the question is asked “Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?” speaking of what God will do to us:

1Ki 9:6  But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: 

These words: “Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?” have their counterpart explanation in Romans 9:1-24, and when we consider Romans 11:1-11 and layer that message over Romans 9:1-24, it becomes clear that everyone was meant to turn from following God, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23) and there is none righteous, no, not one: (Rom 3:10). What we have to conclude is that everyone must go into Babylon, but only a few in this age have been called to go into Babylon and then be dragged “out of her my people” (Rev 18:4, 2Co 6:17, Mat 22:14).

The types and shadows we learn from the temple Solomon built come from the blue prints that were inspired from the mind of God, and so our Lord says this: “And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: [Mat 6:8, Pro 16:1] I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually” meaning Solomon may have physically built this house [typical of working out your own salvation with fear and trembling just as Noah with the ark (Php 2:12-13, Heb 11:7)], but it was the Lord who inspired the plans and all the architecture that have great spiritual significance for us today.

Mat 6:8  Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

By looking at God’s word and continuing in it as doers of the word we will be saved (Joh 8:31-32), and that was the type and shadow message being given to Solomon whose life reveals a pattern of our journey of wanting to worship God in spirit and in truth in a church or temple we have built at great cost and God has hallowed for His purpose. God’s purpose is revealed for humanity through the body of Christ that is represented by the temple Solomon built, but whether any one of us continues in the truth (Joh 8:31-32), worshiping God in spirit and in truth within the temple that represents our bodies (1Co 3:16), is entirely up to God (2Ti 3:15, Joh 4:22-23, Rom 2:28).

2Ti 3:15  And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures [old covenant scriptures], which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 

Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. 

In this section of Kings we will look at “Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?” and see that losing our first love was not something that was optional for Solomon or for any one of us, but was a prophecy of what is going to happen to our first man Adam resulting in God’s correction. The joy of salvation comes when we come to realize that God is faithful and He will continue to finish what He has started in the body of Christ who are the firstfruits who are blessed to trust in God as we are redeemed from the earth through Christ, a redemption that is occurring for the salvation of all the world (Rom 8:38-39, Heb 12:2, Php 1:6, Eph 1:11-12, Oba 1:21).

Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[This list in Romans 8:38-39 represents the powers and principalities we wrestle against (Eph 6:12), and the reason why we are assured victory over those principalities is found in Ephesians 1:21.]

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: [“things present, nor things to come“]

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: 

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 

Oba 1:21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

1Ki 9:1  And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do, 

God’s word reveals to us who was doing all the doing here in Solomon’s life and fulfilling the “desire which he was pleased to do” (Php 2:12-13), just as it was God’s power that manifested all the things that were created in the garden of Eden, all things consisting through Christ (Col 1:17) and having been created for a very good purpose (Gen 1:31).

Gen 1:31  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. 

When the garden of Eden was completed by the Lord, the stage was now set to show mankind [Adam and Eve] what was in their and our hearts. In like manner when the temple was completed, “And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king’s house“, an environment was created where God was going to put his “name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually” (1Ki 9:3). God’s eyes and heart being there continually is like the sword in the garden of Eden that turns every way and is ever present judging the earthly creation of Adam and Eve just as Israel of old was being judged by their interaction in and around the temple of God (Gen 3:24). Solomon hadn’t been driven out of the presence of God yet as Adam and Eve were driven out in due time, but the stage was set to demonstrate what is in the heart of man once again, only this time on a much larger scale than just two people, and at the end of the age an even larger scaled up demonstration will unfold via Gog and Magog (Rev 20:10). This is the needful and necessary pattern God uses to humble all mankind in our flesh, each man in his order, so that a new heaven and a new earth can be created as the old one flees away (Rev 20:11).

Gen 3:24  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. 

Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them [Rev 12:9, 1Jn 5:19] was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 
Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 

Of all of humanity there is only a little remnant represented by “the king’s house” who will be used to redeem the rest of God’s creation having become permanent fixtures in “the house of the LORD“.

1Ki 9:2   That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.

The “second time” that the Lord appeared to Solomon is a witness to him that God is faithful to fulfill what He had promised him earlier in Solomon’s dream (1Ki 3:5-15). In 1 Kings 3:14 we see the parallel words being spoken of by God to Solomon at that time as they were stated later in 1 Kings 9:4. Whenever we see the word if regarding keeping God’s commands, we know it’s not telling us something we are going to be able to accomplish in our flesh, but rather is said to remind us that we can’t help but be that person in our flesh who is not going to walk after God’s commands. God already knows the answer to these two ifs that were spoken to Solomon in two instances, and they were written for our admonition (1Pe 1:12).

1Ki 3:14  And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days. 

1Ki 9:4  And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: 

1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. 

The dream is one for God, and the prophecies are fulfilled showing us that singleness (2Co 11:3) which is in our Lord revealing God’s purpose for mankind to deliver these weak vessels of clay through initially pouring out ten plagues in Egypt. Then He shows our natural state of rebellion unfold against God ten times in the wilderness (Num 14:22), eventually overcoming through Christ who is represented by Caleb (Exo 23:29 , Num 14:24). The two series of tens are a witness that is given against our flesh, and the two times Solomon is visited is a witness as well of the work God is working with our flesh which has a natural enmity against God that will rebel until it doesn’t (Gal 5:17, 1Ki 11:9).

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity^G572 that is in Christ.

G572 haplotēs hap-lot’-ace

From G573; singleness, that is, (subjectively) sincerity (without dissimulation or self seeking), or (objectively) generosity (copious bestowal): – bountifulness, liberal (-ity), simplicity, singleness.

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

1Ki 11:9  And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,

The beast has to be driven out of our lives little and by little otherwise we would become pride-filled thinking that our overcoming had something to do with us and not God Who is the one who must drive the beasts out of our temple through Christ (Joh 2:15). God has appeared a second time to Solomon as He did at “Gibeon“, and yet in both instances of His appearing to Solomon by the hills that the word “Gibeon” means, we are being reminded what was in Solomon’s heart is also in ours (1Jn 1:8). In time these hills will grow into rebellious pride-filled mountains as they do in all flesh (Gen 16:15) until God begins to judge us and humble us through that judgment (Rev 13:14-15, 1Ki 11:9).

Joh 2:15  And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; 

1Jn 1:8  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 

Gen 15:16  But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. 

Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 
Rev 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 

1Ki 11:9  And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,

1Ki 9:3  And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

When Christ was created, he had no choice in the matter (Rev 3:14) and neither do we as we are recreated and die daily enduring through Christ that process of being sanctified (Joh 17:17) or hallowed of God through Christ who builds the spiritual house (Psa 127:1). It is all typified by this statement: “I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually“. If Christ did not have the words of eternal life, we could not be sanctified with the word of God, and in like manner if Solomon did not have God’s blessing to build the temple of God and be given the wisdom and resources to do so, it would not have happened (1Ki 3:5-15)

Rev 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. 

God says the same thing to us as He said to Solomon: “I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me“, and He wants us to know that He is speaking of things that are not as though they were regarding “this house” (Rom 4:17) especially in regards to Him putting His “name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually“. That is especially true of God’s elect today who have God’s spirit within them (Rom 8:9), but this does not exclude the rest of humanity who will be saved at an appointed time (1Ti 4:10).

Rom 4:17  (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. 

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 

1Ti 4:10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. 

1Ki 9:4  And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: 
1Ki 9:5  Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. 

Is Solomon going to walk as “David thy father walked“? In the positive view of that statement where Solomon represents our new man the answer is, “Yes, because he is a son of David who represents Christ.” In the negative sense, if Solomon does not walk as “David thy father walked” then he is understood to be the rejected anointed in type and shadow who was not of us and could not inherit the promises (1Jn 2:19). In both instances it is written to admonish us to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Php 3:14). Lord willing, we are His in this age, and we are persuaded better things of you, as Paul said in Hebrews 6:9, the ‘better thing’ being that we are sons of God who miraculously hear His word today and read and keep it (Mat 13:11, Act 28:27, Mat 13:16, Rev 1:3).

1Jn 2:19  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. 

Heb 6:9  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. 

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 

Act 28:27  For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. 

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words [1Jn 4:6] of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. 

The end result of being bound to the altar as a living sacrifice (Psa 118:27, Gal 2:20) unto God is that God “will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel“. That promise to Solomon is the type and shadow promise to the one seed God determined from the foundation of the world to rule and reign under Christ for a thousand years (Gal 3:16, Rev 20:6).

Gal 3:16  Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

1Ki 9:7  Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people: 

Everything we’ve looked at in this study has culminated into these last three verses which, as was mentioned at the onset of the study, have questions within them that are all answered in these two sections of scripture:  (Rom 9:1-24, Rom 11:1-11).

We all in our appointed time are “cut off” from “Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name“ and cast out of God’s sight (“will I cast out of my sight“) losing our first love and becoming a “proverb and a byword among all people” like a dog returning to our own vomit where greasy grace lays hold of our yet carnal minds (Pro 26:11).  However, if God is working with us in this life after we are brought to that low estate, we will be brought to our senses and dragged back to our Father through His chastening grace which was described for us in the parable of the prodigal son (Luk 15:17-18).

1Ki 9:8  And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house? 
1Ki 9:9  And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil. 

These last verses of our study will only benefit us if we see how they apply to us inwardly today which reads “at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?” This is speaking, in type and shadow, of the astonishment we have over Babylon continually falling in our own lives as we come to see ourselves as the chief of sinners (Rev 14:8). We are the ones who come to see that we have naturally forsaken “the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.“

If God is working with us in this age, then He brings upon us all that evil so that we are crushed (Ecc 1:13) and come to see how we are nothing of ourselves and, like the prodigal son, have wasted our understanding of God’s word [our inheritance in Christ], which actions parallel the life of the rich young ruler who thinks, like we do in our appointed time, that we’ve done so many wonderful things from our youth up [symbolizing our own righteousnesses] not being able to acknowledge that only Christ can be Christ (Luk 18:20-22). All glory and honour is His in every aspect of our lives, including how He causes the light and dark to manifest in our heavens to bring us to trust in Christ (Isa 45:7, Eph 1:12). It takes a lifetime of our being brought very low to be able to rightly divide the words of God and apply all that we read to our own man of sin who daily needs to be judged (1Co 11:31-32). If God will grant that we do that, we will through that exercise of evil be matured in Christ and be able to answer with all assuredness the question posed in the title of our study: “Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?” with the answer revealed in Romans 9:18-24.

Ecc 1:13  And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. 

Luk 18:20  Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. 
Luk 18:21  And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. 
Luk 18:22  Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. 

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves [Jer 3:13, 1Jn 1:9], we should not be judged. 
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord [Heb 12:6], that we should not be condemned with the world. 

Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. 
Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? [nobody has resisted his will (Eph 1:11, Php 2:12-13)]
Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? [“Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?“]
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 
Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 
Rom 9:23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 
Rom 9:24  Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

Mat 22:41-46, Mar 12:35-37, Luk 20:41-44

[Study Aired July 29, 2021]

Mat 22:41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
Mat 22:42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David.
Mat 22:43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
Mat 22:44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?
Mat 22:45 If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
Mat 22:46 And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

Mar 12:35 And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David?
Mar 12:36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Mar 12:37 David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.

Luk 20:41 And he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David’s son?
Luk 20:42 And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
Luk 20:43 Till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Luk 20:44 David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son?

This part of the Gospel is a transitional point. Up to now Christ has been answering the questions presented by the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and others trying to catch Christ in His words. In His typical form, Christ asks them a question they are unable to answer. Below is the Psalm Christ is quoting.

Psa 110:1-7 A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

Tony has a study on this Psalm, and here is the link: Psa 110:1-7 Sit at my Right Hand   If you have not heard this study, I suggest you do. Here is part of the study covering Christ’s question.

“Psa 110:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool^{H1916 H7272}.

As we have seen, unless we are granted to “Sit thou at my right hand” there will be no true overcoming in this age, or said another way, “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”

The words “The LORD said unto my Lord” in this verse represents those who have this high calling in the LORD (1Pe 2:9) that is on the backs of those who are not the weak of the world (Luk 10:24, Mat 11:11, 1Co 1:26). They are not given to see what the LORD has prepared for those who love him, those who will be lords of our great LORD (1Co 2:9, Rom 8:28, Rev 19:16).

1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Luk 10:24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Mat 11:11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

1Co 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Rev 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

We are being prepared by Christ to see God the Father. In order to do this, we must have our enemies be made our footstool. Following are two FAQ’s from the website which explain the answer of Christ’s question.

Who Did King David Call Lord?

God bless you, Mike!

I have just read what you have written about no man having seen the Father in O.T. In Luk 1:32 Jesus is called the Son of the Highest or Most High! HYPSISTOU in Greek, which in Septuagint translates ELYON in Hebrew. Melchizedek was priest of ELYON (Gen 14:18-24). In Daniel 7:17-27 we find that the saints of ELYON shall take the Kingdom and possess the Kingdom for OLAMA. WAED OLAM OLAMIA, which I believe is for the age and beyond to the age of ages. Are these saints the Melchizedek priesthood? In Mat 11:27 “NEITHER KNOWETH ANY MAN THE FATHER, SAVE THE SON, AND HE TO WHOMSOEVER THE SON WILL REVEAL HIM”!!! Does this mean that the Father’s Name is MOST HIGH in English, ELYON in Hebrew and HYPSISTOS in Greek and a lot of revelation about our Father is hidden in the Scriptures about the Most High or Highest?

Thanks,
G____

Hi G____,

Thank you for your encouraging words. You ask:

Does this mean that the Father’s Name is MOST HIGH in English, ELYON in Hebrew and HYPSISTOS in Greek and a lot of revelation about our Father is hidden in the scriptures about the Most High or Highest?

The answer to that question is, “no” because the Father is revealed only through Jesus. This really is clearly stated in this verse:

Php 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Php 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

“Of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, Christ has been given a name that is above every name.”

No one can come to God but by Jesus.

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Those words are true. No one can, ever has or ever will, come to the Father but by Christ. He is called “the mighty God”, the everlasting Father, and He is also called “the Almighty”. However, these names are all Christ, and He came to reveal to us who the Father is. No one was aware that God had a son, or that it was really the Son with whom they had been dealing in the Old Testament, calling Him Yahweh, and thinking that Yahweh was Christ’s Father, instead of realizing that ‘Yahweh was really Christ Himself. This has to be so because, “No man comes to the Father but by Christ”, and Christ is our ‘Father’.

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

This “Almighty” is not speaking of the heavenly Father of Christ. It is speaking of the same ‘I am’ of Revelation 1:18:

Rev 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

When Christ quoted Psalm 110:1, “The Yahweh said unto my Adon, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool”, Christ is telling us that ‘Adon’ is King David, and King David is calling Christ, Yahweh.

Psa 110:1 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Mat 22:41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
Mat 22:42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, [The Son] of David.
Mat 22:43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
Mat 22:44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?
Mat 22:45 If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
Mat 22:46 And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any [man] from that day forth ask him any more.

In the New Testament Greek, both times the word ‘lord’ is used it is the Greek word ‘kurios’ translated variously in the King James as Lord, God, master and sir. However, in Psalms the first ‘Lord’ is Yahweh, and ‘Yahweh’ is always translated in all capitals in the King James Version, while the second ‘Lord’ is Adon.

Christ tells us that one of these is King David speaking, and it is evident that King David is not Yahweh. So Adon is King David, and King David is calling Christ, ‘Yahweh’.

That accords with the fact that Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses and many others in the Old Testament, either heard Yahweh’s voice, and several, like Abraham and Moses, even saw Yahweh’s form.

Gen 18:1 And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
Gen 18:2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw [them], he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
Gen 18:13 And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

Here we have “the LORD”, the Hebrew in both of these verses is ‘Yahweh’, both “appearing to Abraham” and “speaking unto Abraham”. The same thing is true of Moses many years later:

Exo 6:10 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Exo 6:11 Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.

Exo 33:18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
Exo 33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
Exo 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face [in His glory]: for there shall no man see me [“in My glory], and live.
Exo 33:21 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
Exo 33:22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
Exo 33:23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen [in my glory].

So both Abraham and Moses, and others, saw Yahweh and heard His voice. But concerning His Father Christ tells us this:

Joh 5:37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

It is obvious that the ‘Yahweh’ of the Old Testament was not the father but was Christ all along, speaking for and appearing for His Father whom Christ came to reveal only to those He chose to do so.

Mat 11:27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

It is only through Christ that anyone can hope to ever see the Father. That is what Christ Himself taught.

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

No one before Christ had ever heard the voice of the Father or seen His form. Here is the really good news! Here is life eternal. It is in the very next verse:

Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
Joh 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us the Father?

“Seeing the Father” is now no longer a physical matter. It is now a spiritual matter, and our ‘eyes and ears’ are both now a spiritual matter. I hope this all helps you to see that Christ is the Yahweh of the Old Testament who King David called Lord.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

In What Way is Christ God?

Hi Mike,

This was posted by a person on [a bible forum], what do you make of it? It seems the person replying to the quote believes the kingdom will never be given back to the Father.

“The Kingdom will be handed over to God when our spiritual husband and brother and king, subjects all enemies to it so that they might be subjects OF it.”
WRONG

The LORD said to My Lord, set thee at my Right hand till I make thy enemies thy footstool.
Who is The LORD and who is My Lord (That David spoke of in Psalms)??
Can anyone find a second witness to the Corinthian verse that implies Jesus Christ is subduing all things and then handing it over to the Father???
Can’t be done, because the Corinthian verse is the only witness that gives this convoluted conclusion. Think on the Psalms verse, and God willing it will open your eyes.

Thanks brother,
D____

Hi D____,

Thank you for your question.

If one thinks the word of God is convoluted, then why study it? If on the other hand, one thinks that people’s understanding of God’s Word is “convoluted” and without a “second witness” then that one needs to give the proper understanding of the verse in question or else just confess what they are making obvious; that they do not think God’s Word is infallible. A post like this would not be given the light of day on iswasandwillbe.com. If this man were seeking to know what 1Corinthians 15:20 is saying, or if he were even trying to explain it, then such an attitude would be honored. Speaking of God’s word as if the apostle Paul himself was speaking “convoluted” doctrine contrary to Psalms tells me that this writer does not believe that “the sum or thy word is truth,” which also happens to be in Psalms:

Psa 119:160 The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting. (ISV)

The need for a second witness is a good point. If you don’t even believe that the apostle Paul is an inspired writer and don’t even see the need to explain 1Corinthians 15:20, then you will not be given time or space on IWWB.

One ‘second witness’ for 1 Corinthians 15:20 is the very scripture this man quotes to show it has no second witness:

Psa 110:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

This is way over the head of ‘Peacetroll,’ but there is something in the New Testament which is called “the Christ” of Christ. Look at these few verses:

Act 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

The apostle Peter spoke these words to the Jews in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Now consider this verse, just a couple of chapters later after the chief priests had begun persecuting the church at Jerusalem:

Act 4:26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

This word ‘Christ’ means simply ‘anointed.’ All priests are ‘anointed’ to be of service for God to His people. Now here is what Christ tells us about who we are to Him:

Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

“As My Father hath sent me SO send I you.” What did the Father send Christ to do? He sent Him to die for His own children. And what has Christ sent us to do? He sent us to lay down our lives for our brothers:

Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

This is not speaking of taking a bullet for a friend. It could well include that, but it is far broader in its application than that. We must “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice…”

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Like Christ, we, too, as the christ of Christ, are sent “AS His Father hath sent Him” to present our bodies a living sacrifice…” for our brothers. Here now is how we do that, and this is what ‘Peacetroll’ is totally unaware of as he teaches that Christ is both the Son and the Father:

Col 1:24 Now, am I rejoicing in the sufferings on your behalf, and am filling up the things that lack of the tribulations of the Christ, in my flesh, in behalf of his body, which is the assembly, (REV)

‘The tribulations which are lacking of THE Christ’ are fulfilled in us as we present our bodies to God as a living sacrifice by laying down our lives for our friends. Those are the tribulations of THE christ of our Lord Jesus Christ, but THE christ will rule and reign the kingdoms of this world with our Lord Jesus Christ:

Rev 11:15 And, the seventh messenger, sounded; and there came to be loud voices in heaven, saying – The kingdom of the world, hath become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign unto the ages of ages. (REV)

So it takes Christ to fill His Father just as we fill Christ:

Eph 1:3 Blessed, be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing, in the heavenlies, in Christ,

Eph 1:9 making known to us the sacred secret of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him,
Eph 1:10 For an administration of the fulness of the seasons, to reunite for himself (under one head) the all things in the Christ, the things upon the heavens, and the things upon the earth, in him: (REV)

This is probably not for the eyes of ‘Peacetroll,’ but verse ten is definitely another ‘second witness’ to the so-called ‘convoluted’ words of 1 Corinthians 15:28:

1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him [the Lord and His Christ], then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God [the Father] may be all in all.

Both verses are saying virtually the same thing for those with eyes to see and ears to hear. Here again is another verse which makes this same point just a few verses later in Ephesians 1:

Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Christ’s “inheritance… [is] in the saints.”

Eph 1:22 And [the Father] hath put all [things] under his [Christ’s] feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

The church, Christ’s body, is “the fulness of Him [Christ] that fills all in all [His Father].” Here is how Christ put all of this at an earlier time:

Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I [am] in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Joh 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

I hope this gives you a better idea of who is “His christ… THE christ” of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of His Father:

1Co 8:6 But to us [there is but] one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and [besides this “one God, the Father” there is also] one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

The story of Eve coming out from Adam is the story of Christ coming out from His creator, the Father of Jesus Christ.

Mat 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

According to Christ Himself, He is God in the same sense that “ye are gods.”

Joh 10:33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Joh 10:34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Joh 10:35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Joh 10:36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

Christ would have had no point to be made if He were saying that He Himself were the Father. That would be like saying ‘Ye are the Father,’ and neither we nor He is the Father, but we are gods, just as Christ was pointing out that He is a God.

So “the Lord says unto my lord sit thou at my right hand until I have made thy enemies thy footstool” applies to “THE Christ” who has been sent by Christ just as His Father sent Him. Besides this, too, is another witness to that Truth:

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Mike

[The next study in the Gospels in Harmony series is here.]

[Study Aired June 24, 2021]

1Ki 1:31  Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.
1Ki 1:32  And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king.
1Ki 1:33  The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon: 
1Ki 1:34  And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon.
1Ki 1:35  Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.
1Ki 1:36  And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: the LORD God of my lord the king say so too.
1Ki 1:37  As the LORD hath been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David.
1Ki 1:38  So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David’s mule, and brought him to Gihon.
1Ki 1:39  And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.
1Ki 1:40  And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.

“Let my lord king David live for ever”  heralds the conclusion of the matter from Bathsheba’s mouth whose words and works typify for God’s elect what should be in our hearts every moment, and that is to let brotherly love continue (Heb 13:1) through Christ who is symbolized by king David.

Heb 13:1  Let brotherly love continue.

In this story of the lineage of king David being preserved, God is the one who is making a way where there seems to be none, and He does so today in our lives by having Christ rule and reign in the hearts of those who have God’s spirit within them (Rom 3:10, Isa 43:16, Rom 8:9), spoken this way in the old covenant: “Let my lord king David live for ever“. These events symbolize for us the promise of eternal life which is given to us through Christ (Joh 6:55-57).

Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Isa 43:16  Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Joh 6:55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

Bathsheba and Nathan symbolize the witness of the church and the holy spirit that God uses to teach us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lust in this age (Tit 2:12-13). God’s spirit is leading us into all truth, convicting us of unrighteousness just as Nathan was used regarding David’s adultery and now in giving Bathsheba the direction needed to preserve the lineage of King David (Joh 16:13, Rom 8:16).

Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

It is God’s spirit that gives us power to overcome through a process of repentance and forsaking worldly lust (Rev 11:3, Rom 2:4), and as we discussed last week, our flesh has to continually be humbled, “clothed in sackcloth”, dying daily (Ecc 7:1-2, 1Co 15:31), in order to fear God and work righteousness (Pro 9:10, Act 10:35, Psa 115:13, Ecc 12:13-14). This process is all tied into the faith God gives His elect who He intends to purify through the fiery trials of this life (1Pe 4:12, 1Pe 1:7).

Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Ecc 7:1  A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.
Ecc 7:2  It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Pro 9:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Ecc 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments:  for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecc 12:14  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Bathsheba with her “face to the earth” symbolizes the understanding that the body of Christ has been granted today to be shown how we ought to “tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1Ti 3:15, Mic 6:8), which can only be accomplished “by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zec 4:6). That tarrying long is the long-suffering process to which God has called the elect so we can be washed by the word of God and be made ready to be the bride of Christ (Eph 5:26, Rev 19:7).

Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Pro 9:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Act 10:35  But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

Psa 115:13  He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great.

Ecc 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecc 12:14  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Mic 6:8  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Let us give great thanks to God for His mercy which never fails as we let brotherly love continue in His holy temple, the church, where we worship our Father in spirit and in truth (Joh 4:23-24), which is how we are given to “Let my lord king David live for ever“.

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

1Ki 1:31  Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.

It’s when we bow our face “to the earth” and humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand (1Ki 1:16, 1Pe 5:6) that we begin to see how Christ, who is typified by King David, will preserve the church (Psa 121:7-8, Mat 16:18). This preservation comes as a result of His righteous judgments in our earth (Luk 21:4-5, Isa 26:9, 1Th 3:12, 2Pe 2:9) and with our faces introspectively looking “to the earth” we go through a process of judgment now (Jer 22:29) so we can be among those who will be blessed and holy to have their part in the first resurrection: “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years” (Rev 20:6, 1Co 11:31).

Psa 121:7  The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil (1Co 10:13): he shall preserve thy soul.
Psa 121:8  The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore (Pro 3:5-8).

Luk 12:4  And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do [in this life or the next (1Co 6:3, Luk 10:20)].
Luk 12:5  But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

[have reverence and fear toward the judge, toward the king as Nathan and Bathsheba did which actions typify the right spirit of fearing him, “which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.”]

1Th 3:12  And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:
1Th 3:13  To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

[the saints are preserved and the rest of God’s creation is reserved “unto the day of judgment to be punished”. Our time of enduring God’s wrath and punishment on our first man Adam is now (1Pe 4:17, Rev 14:12)]

2Pe 2:9  The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

Nathan and Bathsheba were stedfastly going about to preserve the line of David, which line is a type and shadow of the body of Christ, the remnant that God promised would endure until the end “according to the election of grace” (Rom 11:5). Again Christ’s answer to the world that is yet to be judged is expressed in these verses where David says, “Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them” just as Adonijah who typifies our first man Adam who must experience this stumbling first, a blinding to the word of God that is spoken in parables for that very reason (Luk 8:10). It is only when we are crushed by the stone that was rejected by the builders that we can then see the truth that if we are granted to continue in will set us free (Isa 28:13, Mat 21:42-44, Joh 8:32). These verses in Romans 11:8-16 remind us of that same point that “(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them”, which is where we all start until we begin to be judged of God (1Pe 4:17).

Isa 28:13  But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Mat 21:42  Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
Mat 21:43  Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Mat 21:44  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken [Isa 28:13]: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

1Ki 1:32  And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king.

Keeping in mind that king David is a type of Christ we can now look at this very decisive moment when Solomon is going to be anointed and see the correlation being drawn for God’s elect who likewise see the spiritual equivalent of these things happening in their life.

[…as others by God’s design try to usurp the rulership that God had determined to give us from the foundation of the world as Adonijah attempted (Joh 15:16-17, Rev 3:11)

Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Joh 15:17  These things I command you, that ye love one another.

Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown]

The anointing of Solomon is symbolic language referring to the return of Christ in our life in earnest as we are anointed and given this unction that is accompanied with many struggles at the onset and much tribulation throughout our lives that culminates in great tribulation at the end (1Jn 2:20, Heb 10:32-33, Mat 24:21).

1Jn 2:20  But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

Heb 10:32  But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;
Heb 10:33  Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.

Mat 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

It is through that lifetime of much tribulation that God’s people will be prepared and learn how He can “preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore”, and it will be by God’s anointing found within the church the body of Christ that this power to overcome will be accomplished, symbolized for God’s people with Nathan, a type of the comforter that brings the sure word of prophesy into the church, typified by Bathsheba, so that we can have light in this dark world in which we live both inwardly and without ourselves (Mat 24:33-36, Psa 121:7-8, 2Pe 1:19).

Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Mat 24:36  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Psa 121:7  The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
Psa 121:8  The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

2Pe 1:19  We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Who David calls to take action is symbolic of what the Lord will do in our heavens to make the bride ready to be in the first resurrection (Rev 19:7). Here are the meanings of those names of people that the king called upon to bring about this coronation, keeping in mind that these were the ones that Adonijah, who represents our flesh, would have never called upon to help him with his schemes, telling us that it is only the Lord who can build the house and that boasting is excluded by the law of faith (Psa 127:1, Rom 3:27).

These all “came before the king” for our sakes (2Co 4:15). In short it is those who are being cleansed and washed by the blood of lamb who are overcoming by the power of God represented by the name Zadok (Rev 12:10-11).

Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Rev 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Zadok the priest H6659 צדוק tsâdôq tsaw-doke’
From H6663; just; Tsadok, the name of eight or nine Israelites: – Zadok.
H6663 צדק tsâdaq tsaw-dak’
A primitive root; to be (causatively make) right (in a moral or forensic sense): – cleanse, clear self, (be, do) just (-ice, -ify, -ify self), (be, turn to) righteous (-ness).

Nathan’s name tells us that it is God who has recompensed us unto himself by reconciling us unto our Father (Rom 11:35-36, Rom 5:10).

Rom 11:35  Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Rom 5:10  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Nathan the prophet H5416 nâthân naw-thawn’
From H5414; given; Nathan, the name of five Israelites: – Nathan.

H5414 nâthan  naw-than’
A primitive root; to give, used with great latitude of application (put, make, etc.): – add, apply, appoint, ascribe, assign, X avenge, X be ([healed]), bestow, bring (forth, hither), cast, cause, charge, come, commit consider, count, + cry, deliver (up), direct, distribute do, X doubtless, X without fail, fasten, frame, X get, give (forth, over, up), grant, hang (up), X have, X indeed, lay (unto charge, up), (give) leave, lend, let (out), +lie, lift up, make, + O that, occupy, offer, ordain, pay, perform, place, pour, print, X pull, put (forth), recompense, render, requite, restore, send (out), set (forth), shew, shoot forth (up). + sing, + slander, strike, [sub-] mit, suffer, X surely, X take, thrust, trade, turn, utter, + weep, X willingly, + withdraw, + would (to) God, yield.

Again we are reassured by the name Benaiah that the Lord will build his temple, the church, Christ’s body (Col 1:24) and the gates of hell won’t prevail against it (Mat 16:18).

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Benaiah the son of Jehoiada H1141 benâyâh  benâyâhû ben-aw-yaw’, ben-aw-yaw’-hoo   From H1129 and H3050; Jah has built; Benajah, the name of twelve Israelites: – Benaiah.

H1129 bânâh  baw-naw’
A primitive root; to build (literally and figuratively): – (begin to) build (-er), obtain children, make, repair, set (up), X surely.

1Ki 1:33  The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon:
1Ki 1:34  And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon.

There is more instruction given from king David in order to turn the tide of Adonijah who represents the man of perdition who wants to remain the ruler of our land, our bodies, but God has other plans and those plans in type and shadow are being revealed for us through what king David who is a type of Christ is going to institute (2Th 2:8-10).

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

Notice the orders that are given to Zadok, Nathan and Benaiah: “The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon“. They are told to take “the servants of your lord” which servants represent any and all who are being led of God’s spirit and see themselves as servants who have been humbled in the kings service (2Co 4:5, Rom 8:14).

2Co 4:5  For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

We have no dominion over each other’s faith (2Co 1:24) that God is giving to each member of the body of Christ, and because of that relationship, or discipleship that we have in Christ, we obediently go where the Lord would have us go when his servant is sent our way (Mat 4:22, Joh 13:35). In this type and shadow instance, the servants are commanded “and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon” to teach us that we are entering into Jerusalem above upon “mine own mule“, a beast of burden that represent Christ’s flesh that we are (Col 1:24, Eph 5:30). It is upon that beast that we are caused to enter into heavenly places being  bound to the altar (Psa 118:27) and those heavenly places are represented by “Gihon” where we are drawn to Christ (Joh 6:44).

Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

H1521 gı̂ychôn  gichôn  ghee-khone’, ghee-khone’
From H1518; stream; Gichon, a river of Paradise; also a valley (or pool) near Jerusalem: – Gihon.

H1518gı̂yach  gôach ghee’-akh, go’-akh
A primitive root; to gush forth (as water), generally to issue: – break forth, labor to bring forth, come forth, draw up, take out.

It is with the mind of Christ that is working within the body of Christ that we come together to anoint each other as “Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel“. We are anointed through Christ as we wash each other with the word (Eph 5:26), which is happening at the altar that God has drawn us to, represented by “Gihon“(Heb 13:10).

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

We are called to “blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon” meaning we herald the truth while in these earthen vessels that we are more than conquerors through Christ and can overcome. God can “save king Solomon” (Rom 8:37).

Salvation comes to us through judgment and so these verses show us how it is through those judgments represented by the blowing of the trumpet that God will save the king who will rule over “Israel” that represents the world and all the sin that is in our world that needs to be ruled over through Christ (Zec 9:14, Amo 3:6, Joe 2:15, Joe 2:1, 1Jn 2:16-17).

Zec 9:14  And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.

Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? [Luk 12:5] shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

Joe 2:15  Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

Joe 2:1  Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; [1Pe 4:17]

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

1Ki 1:35  Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.

Verse 35 is a prophesy telling God’s elect we will be saved first, and once again we are shown in this story the order of salvation with the statement, “Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.” We are appointed to be the first who will rule over sin in our members represented by Israel and Judah, Ohola and Oholabah who are also represented by “thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate” of Ezekiel 16:55. It is God’s elect today who have Christ sitting on the throne of our hearts because we have been anointed, and so we are told that we are ambassadors for Christ, represented by the phrase “he shall be king in my stead” (2Co 5:20). Christ’s anointing makes it possible for us to be judged and to endure that judgment through Christ (Php 4:13).

Eze 16:55  When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

2Co 5:20  Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

1Ki 1:36  And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: the LORD God of my lord the king say so too.
1Ki 1:37  As the LORD hath been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David.

“Benaiah the son of Johaiada answered the king, and said, Amen” because he was of the same mind as the king and saw the blessing that was upon David that was coming from above, from “the LORD God of my lord the king“, just like John the Baptist recognized Christ as being anointed (Joh 1:29). Benaiah goes on to say: “As the LORD hath been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David“, which typifies Christ’s words to God’s elect found in John 14:12-13.

Joh 14:12  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
Joh 14:13  And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

1Ki 1:38  So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David’s mule, and brought him to Gihon.
1Ki 1:39  And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.
1Ki 1:40  And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.

The earth will be rent^H1234 with the sound of God’s government when it is established, and these closing verses of our study witness to the fact it will be accomplished not by might or power but by God’s holy spirit (Zec 4:6): “And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.”

The order of God’s government is witnessed to us again in 1Kings 1:38, and the end result of Christ ruling and reigning through His body, which is the church, is that all mankind will be saved, typified in this last verse of our study: “And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent^H1234 with the sound of them.” The earth represents our flesh that needs to be judged, and when God’s judgments are in the earth men will learn righteousness (Isa 26:9), and the end result, or the fruit of that judgment, is expressed with these words which tell us “And all the people came up after him [1Co 15:22-24, 1Co 15:28], and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them“.

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

H1234 bâqa‛ baw-kah’
A primitive root; to cleave; generally to rend, break, rip or open: – make a breach, break forth (into, out, in pieces, through, up), be ready to burst, cleave (asunder), cut out, divide, hatch, rend (asunder), rip up, tear, win.

We started this study off by seeing how Bathsheba bowed her face to the earth, which was a symbol of the humility of Christ within the church who are being judged now so that one day we will rule under Christ to see the veil of all men’s hearts rent, which will bring about everlasting peace (Isa 9:7). This is all symbolically expressed with the words “Let my lord king David live for ever”.

Isa 9:7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

The Love Energy Loop between Christ and His Wife is Constant and Endless

[Study Aired May 26, 2021]

In April, the previous mini-study showed how nature, and particularly Birds of Paradise, displays that it is a shame for a man to have long hair. It graphically and colorfully portrayed the order of headship in the Godhead with an earthly husband representing the Father’s shadow as head of the family. It was an excerpt from a particularly long draft study in the making I named, “The Worship of Women Destroys the Love they Covet.”

Following is another excerpt from the same paper. It doesn’t give away the ultimate expression of that paper, yet for this exercise, I hope to inspire those Elect in marriage to deeply consider privately between the spouses how they can attain the love expressed in the next section as physically portrayed by David and Jonathan. The single saints can likewise do the same in their hearts, yet more directly to their fiancé, Christ. The advantage the married Elect have is their profound bond through the emotions of their marital union that should leave them awestruck in excitement for the spiritual reality when they see Christ in person.

As we progress through this paper, the purpose is to please reflect on how Christ can amplify His spirit – that energy flow between him and us, and us back to him.

The ultimate goal as a physical being

The ultimate goals are to live our physical lives, especially in marriage, to the fullest as a mirror-image of the Bride’s relationship with her Husband; to be “one” as Christ and the Father are “one”.

The Bride of Christ is not yet fully married to Christ. We are in the courtship phase. While we all are asleep and waiting as the Bridegroom seemingly tarries, we still can refine a few fleshly acts to reflect our relationship with our Lord more elegantly. It may seem pointless since we will soon hear the horse’s hooves thundering in the distance as He comes for us, especially when we understand these verses.

Rom 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

1Co 7:29 But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none. “Let no man glory in men [women!] for all things are yours”.

Men glory in women, and women glory in women. Ironically, if only women could fully see that if they gloried in their husbands, they would be on the path to a stunning physical relationship which points to a spectacular spiritual relationship with Christ. Yet, in these troublesome “end times”, the above scripture admonishes us not to focus on the earthly delights a beautifully seductive and Christ-like wife can lavish on her husband, since the reality in Christ infinitely surpasses the shadow of the breathtaking pleasures she can give serving the flesh.

Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

In our haste to mortify the deeds of the flesh, we overlook some vital male and female differences that would help make our marriage yoke light and result in a love that could “surpass the love of women”. It is infinitely more critical for us to have a love for Christ that surpasses the love of what a saintly wife of the Lord can bring to a relationship. Christ and the Father do have a love that surpasses the love of women.

2Sa 1:23 Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death, they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.

2Sa 1:26 I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.

David and Jonathan, in type and shadow, are juxtaposed in lockstep as the Father and Christ. Their love assuredly was, is, and will be more wonderful in the Elect than the love of an earthly woman can sensually and spiritually delight her husband and him, her. What man wouldn’t like to experience that kind of love, both physically and spiritually? What saintly woman wouldn’t want to give that kind of love to her husband? If she did have within her that quality, she would be as Christ, even God. Try to envisage how physically a woman can give her love to a man that surpasses any conceivable love ANY woman who has ever existed can give to her husband. The very same physical aspects two males can righteously give to each other as did David and Jonathan. The physical delights with which she is potently gifted are amplified beyond measure when she has the mind of Christ. What a woman! What a Bride of Christ!

The ultimate plan in the primary paper is to show how we can have a love for Christ that infinitely surpasses the love of women, the same love Christ has for the Father and He for Christ. It is the type of love reserved only for the Bride of Christ.

The title, “The Worship of Women Destroys the Love they Covet“, highlights Rachel’s physical and spiritual expression that ravished Jacob. There is nothing more ravishing (H7686 to go astray; to mislead always) to a man than a pretty girl who unreservedly expresses delight in him. Her authentic presentation and laughter in uninhibited responsiveness to him and showing in her eyes is designed by God to ravish him. What seals that ravishing, in the positive sense, is her dedicated submission to him in all things spiritual. To boot, should they have vastly more common interests than differences, then their relationship is a match made in heaven. Those heart-thumping experiences create anticipation in him. If she is authentic in every detail of her personality, she, too, delightedly experiences immense tension in their relationship. She would be a fool and a whore to be inauthentic with her romantic and erotic machinations. These enormous and sensual titillations are why God told a young man (any man) not to go near a loose woman. She doesn’t have to have the traditional looks of a whore to lure him, for she is far more wily with the subtle use of her God-given femininity. She is infinitely more likely to be a mutual friend in your circle of friends or the girl next door, even the church down the street that exudes ‘love’.

Conversely, the more delusions and imagined commonalities a couple have, that, too, is a match made in heaven of a turbulent kind. If one or both parties of a courting couple gloss over personal dislikes in the other, the stage is set for growing discord that will ultimately end in strife. A little leaven leavens the entire lump, and since God bound the two together, it is a match made in heaven for much overcoming and spiritual strife.

When the physical ravishings overrule the spiritual ravishings, any heart’s idols will come back to haunt and mislead the couple. If a girl’s idol of the heart is to give sex or sensual titillations just to get ‘love’, or for a guy to give ‘love’ with an underlying plan to get sex, their idols of the heart potentially will bite them badly. Sexual strife, pre-marriage and in a marriage, is a result of spiritual strife. David and Jonathan, in their relationship, didn’t have the discord any woman has the potential to bring to a relationship to “err”; or a man to his relationship to Christ. Consequently, their love was “wonderful” and “passing the love of women”. Whoa! Now that concept should make us sit up and take notice!

2Sa 1:26 I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.

Wouldn’t it be astonishingly “wonderful” for the husband if his wife, with all of her extraordinary womanly delights, also had embedded in her heart and soul the same love David and Jonathan had for each other, for her husband?! She would be the recipient of everything beautiful from him if she (at God’s will) broke the curse of being against him.

Wouldn’t it be astonishingly “wonderful” for Christ if every member of the Body of Christ with all of her extraordinary womanly delights also had embedded in her heart and soul that same love Christ has for her? She will be the recipient of everything “wonderful” in the First Resurrection, if to Him she submits in “everything” – a relationship without discord and contention and being”One” in Christ.

The stark reality is that Jonathan and David did have a “wonderful” relationship that surpassed any love a woman could give a man short of sexual love. A woman’s unique sexual delights are designed expressly for the man; an ace-card surpassed by the righteous love two men can have for each other. That love (the two men) is a shadow of the love of God that the Father and Christ have for each other. Their love is one of implicit unity and oneness in “everything” as an earthly wife is to have for her husband in “everything”.

Eph 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the Wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

He becomes a saviour of both the physical body from a sexual standpoint and the spiritual connection. How good is that!?

Eph 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

Now, as I’ve frequently been known to say, a wife being subject to a husband in “everything” doesn’t mean that if the husband loves anchovies on his pizza that his wife has to fall in line and love anchovies, too. However, the more remarkable that oneness between them in “everything” is, the closer their relationship is to surpassing the love even a saintly husband has for his wife. It is a physical shadow of Christ’s love for the Father that surpasses the love He has for his wife, the Bride of Christ. That quality is the pinnacle of love I hope (at His will) to guide submissive Saints, both male and female, in the Body of Christ to possibly achieve certain marital interactions that highlight Christ’s love for the Father.

What Type of Love  Surpasses the Love of a Woman?

That heading is a topic which will make every human since the beginning of creation sit up and take notice! They all will look in astonishment upon the wife of Christ, who walked hidden in their midst for two thousand years, and wonder at the Son whose love for the Father surpassed His love for His wife. Yet, He gave His life for His wife and family.

Mat 10:37 He that loveth Father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

David’s slaying of Goliath breathtakingly overshadowed Jonathan’s outstanding battle accomplishments. This ruddy complexioned stripling of a lad turned battle-hardened soldiers’ heads in awe. Seasoned soldiers, steeped unflinchingly in the gore of many conflicts, gaped at this lad in astonishment before an uproarious applause.

1Sa 18:1 And it came to pass, when he [David] had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
1Sa 18:2 And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his Father’s house.
1Sa 18:3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
1Sa 18:4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.
1Sa 18:5 And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

Men delight in every aspect of a woman; every detail of her is titillation to his senses. So what is this quality two men can have for each other that a woman (thankfully!) is incapable of contributing?

I say, “thankfully” since we are not to confuse the sexes by a woman taking on the man’s qualities in a vain attempt to achieve the love that Jonathan and David had. Saul, Jonathan and David would loathe any Zena warrior-like woman standing shoulder to shoulder with them holding an enemy’s head aloft.

Jonathan’s and David’s very souls were knit by David’s extraordinary courage to slay the uncircumcised Philistine whom the armies of Israel feared. Saul, like Cain, became sullen and morose for not “do[ing] well” with their offerings and prefigures the likes of Esau and Queen Vashti and a host of other notables who nonchalantly refused God.

Christ, like Saul, takes us, His bride, permanently into His house forever. Before Christ took His bride, the Father and Christ made a covenant together to create man and the resulting slaying of man’s giants in his land. Christ and the Father, as did Jonathan and David, love each other as do the Father and Christ love mankind.

Christ likewise makes a pure white linen robe, the same as His, and dresses His wife together with His sword and bow of truth to protect and guide her in rulership just as Jonathan gave David his fighting gear. Jonathan and David were one in everything by their souls being knit, as husbands and wives are to be. Jonathan and David were the epitomai [plural] that flesh could produce which reflects the love Christ and the Father have for each other as males without the sexual union, which a female is unique in bestowing.

As from the First Resurrection, the wife of Christ goes out wherever He sends her to judge wisely and bring out His sword upon a lawless generation in the fearful sight of all the people, Saul’s figurative servants.

I make no apologies for the endless juxtaposing of the natural against and preceding the spiritual examples in this paper. Consequently, God created utterly graphic violence of intense colour and imagery as “ensamples” in both the animal world and the human beast world as mechanisms to partly shock us into submission. Only through painful trials and sufferings to which all flesh contributes will eventually the world be subdued to say, “Your will be done, mighty Lord and King; your word rules; you are God.”

Thankfully, our delightful lady-folk are unlike Zena, the warrior princess for the married husbands and to whom he comes home. Nonetheless, are our lady Saints afraid to read and see the graphic and intense imagery of Heber’s wife driving a nail through his temple? How about a son killing her other son, as did Cain with its horrific and nightmarish recollections for decades? What about seeing your son beat up and nailed upon a cross right before your eyes? Christ didn’t like the idea, yet his mother and family were made to endure the violent imagery ~ pretty graphic and colourful, wouldn’t you say? The Bible is a book full of harlotry and whoredoms of which the sisters, Oholah and Oholibah outrank the most outlandish shady ladies.

All of those vivid pictorials are ensamples for us to muse upon for their spiritual applications in which we delight. Especially Gentile Christian women, and likewise men, are not exempt from shying away from those expressive images; they cannot understand why God wants our forebears to kill little children and women.

Men who cannot lead as God requires are men who unwittingly reflect the nature of women; they are feminised and unconsciously have women ruling over them. A woman doesn’t have the “privy members” of a male that denote masculinity and leadership. His privy members are the two highly notable assets at birth that clearly denote masculinity.

Deu 23:1 He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD. [A eunuch could not be a priest of the Lord; why?]

Lev 21:17 Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
Lev 21:18 For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,
Lev 21:19 Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,
Lev 21:20 Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;
Lev 21:21 No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.
Lev 21:22 He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.
Lev 21:23 Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.

All of those “blemishes”, as we know, are symbols of the higher spiritual meaning. Aaron’s seed came from Abraham and down to Christ and was sworn by Abraham’s servant’s hand “under my thigh” to garner a wife for Jacob from his “seed” or kindred. A blind man denotes the endemic blindness of all mankind. A lame man (spiritually) cannot walk in truth and spirit to rightly judge even these issues and even speak righteously about them. A more spiritually savvy Saint may have a better meaning for the “flat nose”, yet it means deformed, as does all things “superfluous” or deformed. Likewise, a broken foot or hand handicaps our walk and work’s spiritual use, as does a crooked back and dwarfism and poor eyesight and diseases.

So why couldn’t a man having a damaged or missing “member” or “stones” be a Priest, and why should that be a problem when the New Covenant was being established and enacted? Philip outrageously, to the Jews, by guiding the Ethiopian eunuch in God’s word, showed the fact that eunuchs, like us with blemishes, will be made into the new man.

A male’s privy members highlight his masculinity, and only males, in the Law of Moses, complete with those qualities and lacking blemishes, could be a priest. Having a full complement of privy members without bodily blemishes portrays the purity and headship of the Father and, in order, Christ, the man and then the woman and children.

We in the Body are fully aware that we must not attempt to state a date or time when Christ will come ‘in person’ for the First Resurrection. We can see clearly that these increasingly unstable times are an overture to that event. Given the seemingly short time between now and the First Resurrection, it seems somewhat trite that we should be seeking to fulfil the desires of the flesh in our marriages, especially since Paul said it is nobler to not focus overly on the flesh in marriage:

1Co 7:29 But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;
1Co 7:30 And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;
1Co 7:31 And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.
1Co 7:32 But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:
1Co 7:33 But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his Wife.

Nonetheless, we can be given to see some astonishing connections in our fleshly marriages that will greatly ravish our love for Christ; again, the natural precedes the spiritual.

There is a correlation that ultimately exists between the Father and Christ and the order of headship! That order is the Father, Christ and His wife and then the rest of humanity. Ultimately, the Father and Son’s priority is to the Father as if Christ had no wife! “… that both they that have wives be as though they had none.” Hypothetically and in the impossible event that the wife of Christ is found to be impure and cast out forever into nothingness, the Father and the Word would default to what they were before creation – as though they had none – no wife. The Father without Christ and Christ without his wife  would yet exist as God and the Word being with God – a love that is “wonderful” and “passing the love of women”.

Yet, we still need to care for our spouses and not defraud the other by avoiding conjugal rights both physically and spiritually while in the last days of the clay.

In part, this paper will seem like an amplification of the flesh; well, yes, it possibly will appear like that, yet to the glory of God. The hopeful revelations exposed, I expect, will make Christ and God brighter and exceedingly more massive in what they propose for the Bride. Seeing the natural more clearly will vastly amplify the thing that casts the shadow, Christ!

Rom 6:14 For sin [flesh that is so easily subject to sin] shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. [So, it will seem a bit uninspiring to reflect so strongly on aspects of our flesh. We don’t walk away from our marriages to be wholly freed from the flesh ~ just yet.]
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin [the flesh].

Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. [In this instance, when we see more fully what God has given us in the flesh, we will see and experience more dramatically the fullness of Christ, our Husband.]

The answers as to how the flesh can have a love for their spouse which is greater than any woman can give to a man, is for possible future study.

With the following discussion, I would like it to be a part of this study, probably not for the Babylonian’s viewing, since they cannot eat from our table.

I dissuade any overt sexually sensitive expressions; however, how would you envisage the Elect could more intensely complete the spiritual energy loop in a married couple that is a shadow eclipsed by the Wife’s relationship with Christ? In electrical terms, it would be similar to a direct current as opposed to main alternating current – an endless and powerful flow from Christ to his wife and back to Him.

[Author may be contacted at gtsquelch (at) gmail.com]

Mat 20:1-16 Laborers in the Vineyard

[Study Aired January 26, 2021]

Mat 20:1-16 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire  labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the  labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in  the marketplace, And said unto them; Go ye also into the  vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went  their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and  did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found  others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all  the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us.  He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever  is right, that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the lord  of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And  when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise  received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he  answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong:  didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. 

What is this parable showing us about the kingdom of heaven?

Notice there are five different times the laborers were hired. What do the five  different times the laborers were hired represent? Here is a link to Mike’s  study on the number five:
Significance of the Number Five. In that study it is shown the number five represents grace through faith. Examples such as the measurements of the temple, the measurements of the cherubims, the implements of the temple all are associated with the  number five.

Another set of five I noticed while researching for this study are the five major covenants mentioned throughout the scriptures which are the Noahic, the Abrahamic, the Mosaic, the Davidic and the New. These covenants are tied to our parable represented by the five different times the householder went  out to hire laborers.

The Noahic Covenant “The Flood of many waters”

Gen 6:17-22 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. 

The Abrahamic Covenant “Circumcision of the flesh”

Gen 17:1-10 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the  Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee  exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 

The Mosaic Covenant “Freedom from Bondage”

Exo 6:1-8 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his  land. And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto  Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.

The Davidic Covenant “The house building”

1Ch 17:11-15 And it shall come to pass, when thy [David’s] days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee: But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. 

The New Covenant “The Law is put inwardly, written in their hearts”

Jer 31:31-34 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. 

These covenants are all part of the process of the old man becoming the  new man by grace through faith.

Eph 2:1-10 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of  disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in  mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 

“The kingdom of heaven is like a man that is a householder.” Who is this “man that is a householder”?

G3617 
οἰκοδεσπότης
oikodespotēs
oy-kod-es-pot’-ace 
From G3624 and G1203; the head of a family: – goodman (of the  house), householder, master of the house. 

Householder means head of the family. Who is the head of our family? God is literally the householder, and the Christ is the steward.

1Co 11:2-3 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. 

This parable taken inwardly shows us that Christ is the householder, and the elect are the stewards.

Col 1:15-18 Who [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head [householder, master] of the body, the church [the elect]: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

This process starts with the householder hiring the laborers. The householder is hiring laborers to work his vineyard. The vineyard in this  parable is the house of Israel which represents the world.

Isa 5:7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked  for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but  behold a cry. 

Jer 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

There are five groups of laborers hired throughout the day. They are described as the first and the last. The first four groups represent the called and chosen. The last group represents those who endure until the end.

Mat 20:16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. 

Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb  shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings:  and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. 

Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake:  but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Here is the attitude of the first group even though they receive what was promised – a day’s wage.

Mat 20:10-12 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 

What more can you receive than a day’s wage for a day’s work? The last received the day’s wage first, representing receiving the “crown of Life”.  Everyone receives “Life” but only in the proper order, and only the first group receives the “crown of Life”.

Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when  he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord  hath promised to them that love him. 

Rev 2:10-11 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer:  behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may  be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Today, the teachings of the Christian world dictate doing something in the flesh will secure life. It is either practicing the old covenants, physical baptism, tithing, communion, or some form of good works that saves you.  On the other hand, Christ tells us that only being born again of the spirit and worshipping in spirit and truth will give us life.

Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 

Joh 4:22-24 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we  worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.