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1st
Samuel 30:11-31 “And
they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him
bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water; 12
and they gave him a piece of a cake of
figs, and two clusters of raisins: and
when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water,
three days and three nights. 13 And
David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? And he said, I am a young man of
Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone
I fell sick. 14 We
made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the
coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we
burned Ziklag with fire. 15 And
David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou
wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will
bring thee down to this company. 16
And when he had brought him down,
behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking,
and dancing, because of the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of
the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. 17
And David smote them from twilight even
unto the evening of the next day: and
there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon
camels, and fled. 18 And
David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. 19
And there was nothing lacking to them,
neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing
that they had taken to them: David
recovered all. 20 And
David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other
cattle, and said, This is David’s spoil. 21
And David came to the two hundred men,
which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also
to abide at the brook Besor: and they
went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and
when David came near to the people, he saluted them. 22
Then answered all the wicked men and men
of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with
us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered,
save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them
away, and depart. 23 Then
said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD
hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. 24
For who will hearken unto you in this
matter? But as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his
part be that tarrieth by the stuff:
they shall part alike. 25 And
it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an
ordinance for Israel unto this day. 26
And when David came to Ziklag, he sent
the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold
a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD;
27 to
them which were in Bethel, and to them which were
in south Ramoth, and to them which were in Jattir, 28
and to them which were in
Aroer, and to them which were in Siphmoth, and to them
which were in Eshtemoa, 29 and
to them which were in Rachal, and to them which were in
the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them which were in the
cities of the Kenites, 30 and
to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were
in Chorashan, and to them which were in Athach, 31
and to them which were in
Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to
haunt.” Introduction [Audio
version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED664] “1st
Samuel chapter 30, we’ve come as far as verse 11, we’ll just quickly read down,
it’s been several weeks. It says “And
it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day,
that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and
burned it with fire.” (verse 1) it came to pass, and it did, but it didn’t
just come to pass, God had arranged the whole thing so that it would come to
pass. David and his men, returning from
Aphek, about 60 miles away, they had pretended to be loyal to Achish, king of
Gath, and gotten themselves into a mess.
David has been in enemy territory for over a year, he’s been somewhere
where he does not belong, where there is no place for him to fit in, he has
conducted himself in a ritualistic manner, pretending to fight the battles of
the LORD,
none of them appointed by the LORD. So much so, that as he’s come to certain
foreign cities, it said he slaughtered men, women, children, he left no one
alive. Being sent back by God’s grace,
by the Philistines, or he’d have ended up fighting Jonathan and Saul. As he comes back to Ziklag, the Amalekites,
thinking that David and his men (who have been defeating their raiding parties)
was at Aphek, they were emboldened to come and destroy, no doubt, take some
vengeance, burned the city. But they
were more merciful than David, they carried away the women, the children, the
aged, everyone. So David and his men
come, the city is burned with fire, no doubt at a distance they saw more than
the smoke of someone’s stove arising. They,
the Amalekites, took the women captives, they slew not any, great or small, but
carried them away, went on their way. So
David and his men, they came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire,
their wives, their sons, their daughters were taken captive. “Then David and the people that were
with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to
weep.” (verse 4) I don’t know the
last time you’ve cried that hard, I’ve had that several times in my life. “And David’s two wives were taken
captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the
Carmelite. And David was greatly
distressed; for the people spake of stoning him,” those are his men, his
guys, and they’re tough guys, “because the soul of all the people was
grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD
his God.” (verses 5-6) “And David said to Abiathar the priest,
Ahimelech’s son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to
David.” no doubt David approaching, with a sacrifice, now for the first
time since enemy territory we hear David broken and seeking the LORD,
coming back to be the man that God had been forming him into. His own men, so discouraged, so tired, so
weary, 60-mile journey in three days, it’s at least 20 miles a day, obviously
no doubt in a rush to get back, as they come back, all is gone. And David at this point in time, unlike Saul,
who goes to the witch of Endor, David seeks the LORD. “And David enquired of the LORD,”
verse 8, “saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them?” tired
of fighting his own battles now, “And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them,
and without fail recover all. So
David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to
the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed. But David pursued, he and four hundred
men: for two hundred abode behind, which
were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.” (verses 8-10) So these 600 men had traveled these 60 miles
in three days, completely fatigued no doubt, no rest, the city had been burned,
David now calls for the LORD’s
counsel, is convinced that the LORD
through the ephod, probably the Urim and Thummim, wants him to pursue. David begins the pursuit, 200, one third of
his men are so fatigued they can’t continue, he leaves them there by the brook
Besor, and he’s going to pursue now with 400.
At this point, I believe David would have pursued by himself. You know, he’s come to the end of himself,
he’s heard the LORD’s
voice, the LORD
has said ‘Go forward,’ no doubt he has some confidence of his men
now, because of his attitude again. And
Saul at this point, we’re going to see as we come to the next chapter, is a man
on a journey away from God. David is a
man who is on a journey towards God. Two
kings, two different directions, two journeys, two inclinations, two hard
attitudes. Saul, could very much, even
at this point in time, and it’s the great tragedy of his life, he could have
sought the LORD,
he could have asked forgiveness, he could have sacrificed a lamb, he could have
repented, and God still no doubt would have been merciful. But Saul continues in a direction away from
God, where David now is drawn close to the LORD. Again, he leaves 200 men by this brook, no
doubt stressed to a great degree, worn out, and he continues with 400. God
Gives David A Special Guide To Find The Amalekites And
it says, “And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David,
not something you’d find in the field (especially in Israelite
territory). And notice, before they knew
anything about him, before they knew who he is, before they ask any
information, it says “and [they] gave him bread, and he did eat; and they
made him drink water;” (verse 11) no doubt David’s concern, “and they
gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again
to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor
drunk any water, three days and three nights.” (verse 12) no doubt,
dehydrated, we’re going to find out he was sick, he was ill. David and his men could have ignored one
Egyptian laying in the field, chasing the Amalekites, but David is of a broken
heart at this point in time, no doubt he takes this man aside, he may see
somewhat himself in this man. God is
using natural means to accomplish supernatural ends at this point in time. He is using natural means to accomplish a
supernatural, a divine end. And
sometimes we don’t take the time to see the Egyptian in the field, sometimes we
don’t take the time to see the most natural things around us, and the hand of
God around us. It was by the hand of God
this man became sick, it was by the hand of God that he laid down through his
illness that his life would be preserved, God had mercy on this Egyptian, and
no doubt as time went on he would be part of David’s entourage. So his spirit came to him again, kindness
first, “for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days
and three nights. And David said unto
him, To whom belongest thou? and
whence art thou? And he said, I am
a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because
three days agone I fell sick.” (verses 12c-13)
David must notice the way he’s dressed, the way he carries himself,
he must perceive him as some type of an official, ‘Who do you belong to,
whose servant are you? and where are you from, whence art thou?’ “And he said, I am a young man of
Egypt, servant to an Amalekite;” ‘and you know how those guys are,’ David’s
probably thinking ‘Yeah, I know.’
“and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick.” ‘So we’re journeying, I got sick, my
master threw me away.’ God’s
hand. And “We made an invasion upon
the south of the Cherethites,” who lived in the Araba in the desert,
“and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah,” the southern
part of Israel, “and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with
fire.” (verse 14) Notice, “we” he includes himself, “burned Ziklag with
fire.” No doubt he doesn’t know that
David, he burned David’s house when he did that. David’s expression, I’m assuming, must
change. “And David said to him, Canst
thou bring me down to this company?” and notice, he says, “And he said,
Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the
hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company.” (verse 15) So this Egyptian is perceptive enough to see something change in David, and he said ‘Ok,
here’s the deal, I’ll take you there if you promise not to kill me or hand me
back to my master.’ “And when
he had brought him down,” that tells us the deal was done, you have to read
between the lines there, “behold, they were spread abroad upon all
the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil
that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of
Judah.” (verse 16) So they are
partying, they think David and his troops are way up in Aphek, which is about
74 miles from where they are now.
They’re all half-pickled, David’s going to have a great victory over
them. Trap in his old commentary from over
a hundred years ago says, “It’s not hard to stab with the sword those who
have already been cup-shot, not hard to stab with the sword those who have
already been cup-shot.” And those
who have been cup-shot don’t win any battles, even in our world today, even in
our culture, they’re always defeated, it’s a shame, they’re not ready for
battle. It says here “And David smote
them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save
four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.” (verse 17) “”twilight,” which can be evening or
morning, but most often in the Old Testament it’s translated “evening,” it’s
either. The battle raged for 24
hours. So, they come on the camp, the
Amalekites are all pickled, they’re dancing, they’re worn out from partying,
they’ve all got full bellies, hanging around, the sun’s going down, and all of
a sudden David and his men are upon them, and it doesn’t say discomfited here,
I’m sure they were, and as much, shocked as anything else, running around half
pickled looking for their swords and their shields, and David and his men come
in and have a great victory. 400 young
men are able to get away. And notice, “And
David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives.” (verse 18) God’s grace.
And David rescued his two wives, David had slaughtered all in some of
the cities he had gone into. “And
there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters,
neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.” (verse 19) No casualties, isn’t it interesting. Look, David could have said, “Hey, God is
sovereign, told me back there through the Urim and Thummim that I’m gonna have
victory, so, I’m gonna trust God, he’s gonna do this,’ Charles Spurgeon
said “No, trust God, and then fight with all that you have against
Amalek.” Amalek is a picture of the
flesh, as you study through the Old Testament.
And no doubt there’s a picture here, because Amalek had been spared
before this, Saul had spared those of Amalek.
And anything you leave alive of your fallen nature, your sinful nature,
anything you let live is gonna come back and bite you at some point. Yes, trust the Lord, he’s changed us, yes,
God is sovereign, yes, we’re dependent on his power. Trust God and fight, Spurgeon said, with all
your might. That’s our obedience. And he says here there was nothing lacking,
David recovered all. Isn’t it
interesting. Often, listen, I don’t know
where everyone is at this evening, but if you’re struggling, feel you’re away
from the Lord, you feel that you’ve compromised or you’ve sinned, God can’t
bless you anymore, get that out of your mind.
Often times after genuine repentance, God will restore to the prodigal
everything that he had to take away to get their attention, everything that he
had to take away to get their attention.
The prodigal when he was eating husks with the swine said, it is better
to be a servant in my father’s house than to be out here. And as he went back, you know his father ran
and embraced him, and wept, and put a new robe on him and put a new ring of
being an heir upon his finger, and made a feast for his son, who was dead and
who is alive again. And how often, we
come back from backsliding, we grovel ‘I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy,’ well
you were not worthy before you backslid, you weren’t worthy the day before you
got saved, you weren’t worthy the day after you got saved, it’s all by the
blood of Jesus, not because we’re worthy of anything. And so often when we determine to rebel, for
David it’s been over a year, in his repentance, in his heart towards God, God
was willing, more than willing to restore everything he had taken away. And when he was desiring to get David’s
attention, God’s a restorer, he’s reconciler, he’s a redeemer. There
Are Those That Go To The Battle, And There Are Those That Stay With The Stuff “And
David took all” verse 20, “the flocks and the herds, which they drave
before those other cattle, and said, This is David’s spoil.”
all of the extra stuff. Now in verse 14
it had told us they [the Amalekites] had gone through all of the area the
Cherethites, no doubt they had taken spoil there, all the southern tribe of
Judah, they had taken spoil there, through the area of Caleb, had taken spoil
there, and then they burned Ziklag with fire, so as David recovers, he doesn’t
just recover the stuff from Ziklag, he recovers all of the spoil also from
those other places [as well as the spoil the Amalekites took from the
Philistine areas, while the Philistine army was up in Aphek fighting
Israel]. “And David came to the two
hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they
had made also to abide at the brook Besor:
and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with
him: and when David came near to the
people, he saluted them.” (verse 21)
“Then answered all the wicked men of Belial, of those that went
with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought
of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his
children, that they may lead them away, and depart.” (verses 21-22) So amongst his army there were wicked
ones, the men of Belial. “Then said
David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD
hath given us, who hath preserved
us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand.” (verse
23) notice, David’s got his perspective
back, his focus. David said ‘No,
no, we didn’t do anything, trust me, I’ve been doing this for 14 months,
boloxing everything I put my hand to, this was God’s victory, he did
everything, he sent us into battle, he sent the sick Egyptian to us, he did
everything we needed, and everything’s in our hand now, nothing’s been lost, it
has nothing to do with us, the LORD
is the one who preserved us, the LORD
is the one whose delivered us.’ Look,
so it’s the LORD’s
spoil, right? Because David’s going to
say, ‘No, the guys who stayed with the stuff, they get part with those
who went to the battle.’ Because
David just learned that at Ziklag. If
anyone, if part of his army had stayed with the stuff at Ziklag, it would not
have been destroyed, David realizes this is just as important, those that are
with the provisions, with the kids, with the stuff, are as important as those
that are in the battle. And David knows
that the spoils belong to the LORD. And God is working on the king now that he’s
going to put on the throne. Listen, in
our lives, in my life, in your life, just kind of a reminder going through
this. Do we say ‘Lord, my life is
yours, it’s the spoils of your victory, Lord, my abilities are yours, the
spoils of your victory Lord. My
possessions, my praise, my time, Lord,’ and I need to work on it, ‘my
time is yours, Lord. All of this, the
spoils of your victory, Lord, not mine, no one else, it all belongs to
you. It isn’t up to me who I give it to,
what I do with it, how I utilize it, how I bring it to bear in any
circumstances, Lord, all of this, are the spoils of your victory.’ David realizes that, it’s what sets his
heart towards God in a remarkable way.
Paul will say in the New Testament ‘What do you have that you
didn’t receive? If you received it, why
do you act as though you hadn’t, what makes you different from another? What makes you think that you’re better than
anyone else, what do you have that you did not receive of the Lord?’ is
the idea. David says ‘The LORD’s
the one whose preserved us, he’s the one who delivered this company that came
against us into our hands, all the spoils are his.’ “For
who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth
down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the
stuff: they shall part alike.” (verse
24) the reward will be alike. Listen, all of us are not going to go to
Haiti, but some of you have graciously given.
[On
12 January 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, leaving its
capital Port-au-Prince devastated. About 220,000 people were reportedly killed,
among them, 102 United Nations staff who lost their lives when the building
housing the mission there, known as MINUSTAH, collapsed.] And hopefully someday in heaven you’re going
to see a Haitian and he’s gonna say the ten bucks that you gave put a Bible in
my hand and changed my life, for eternity.
There are those who are able to go to the mission field wherever it is
in the world, and there are those who can’t, but stay with the stuff and
support [see https://www.unityinchrist.com/evangelism/Short-TermMissions.htm]. There are those who are able to go, and there
are those who stay with the stuff, and get on their knees and intercede and
pray. And man oh man is that important
in my life, anywhere I go. Any time I
have to be away from Philadelphia, anywhere else in the country, anywhere else
in the world, I always want to know that you guys are praying, whoever’s doing
announcements, I always tell them ‘Please, ask the church to pray for me.’ I call KP’s prayer-chain and say ‘Hey,
this is where I’m going to be, will you guys pray?’ and KP will call, ‘Ten
thousand people in this province praying for you, there’s ten thousand here
prayin’ for you,’ I feel really good.
And all of the rewards are distributed equally, for those who go to the
battle, and those who stay with the stuff.
My wife, since this church started 28 years ago, has been an enabler, as
over and over and over and over has stayed with the stuff and enabled me and
allowed me to do what I do, sacrificing.
In heaven, she’ll get way more than me.
[Comment: this concept of heaven
used by so many Christians, in reality, means dwelling inside the Kingdom of
God, which will be brought to earth at Jesus’ return, and we will return with
him and dwell on earth with him, ruling earth for the Millennium. And after the Millennium, the creation of the
New Heavens and the New Earth takes place, as Revelation 21:1-23 shows us, and our
homebase and residence will be inside the New Jerusalem, which will come to
earth and reside there forever and ever.
Also we will have the ability to travel outside of Space-Time into other
spirit realms, so heaven is wherever we and Jesus happen to be at the time,
it’s a concept, really, not a place, where we will dwell as immortal spirit
beings, just as Jesus is (cf. 1st John 3:1-2).] She should get rewards just for being married
to me [laughter], just for staying married to me, let alone pouring her life
into the kids, pastor’s kids are notorious for being scoundrels, we’re blessed
to have four that not only walk with the Lord, but serve the Lord, it’s a
blessing for us. So there are those that
go to the battle, there are those who stay with the stuff. God doesn’t prefer one over the other, the
work gets done, and it gets done by those who stay with the stuff also. It says here, “as his part is” the
rewards, “that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be
that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall
part alike.” (verse 24b) God’s economy is different. And look what it says, “And it was so
from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel
unto this day.” (verse 25) David
Is Sowing The Seeds For His Own Reign, Reflecting Christ’s Soon-Coming Reign “And
when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even
to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of
the LORD;”
(verse 26) The
diplomacy that will mark David on his throne has begun to set into his
heart. He will now return the spoil to
those who were spoiled by Amalek. You
know, these elders and these tribes in Judah [sub-tribes] that were of course
part of his tribe that Amalek had been spoiling, David now not selfish at all,
but wanting to give back to them the things that had been spoiled from them,
God’s king, the heart of God’s king.
It’s a reflection of Christ, our King, who himself garnered the victory,
who was victorious over death and the grave, and yet who bestows spoils upon
us, remarkably. You know it says in Ephesians
chapter 2, ‘that he hath foreordained good works, that we should walk in them,’
he’s set aside, preordained, stuff for us to do, foreordained, good works that
we should walk in them. And then when we
get to heaven [at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, cf. Revelation 19:7-10] he
rewards us for the things he did through us.
You can’t beat this program, it’s remarkable. And David is becoming a reflection of God’s
King. That’s what God’s been doing in
his heart for all of these years. And he
is sowing the seeds for his own reign, the time he’ll be on the throne now “unto
the elders of Judah,” now he sends of the spoil. They have been robbed by the Amalekites,
David is returning now to the people the things that have been taken away, “even
to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of
the LORD;
to them which were in Bethel, and to them which were
in south Ramoth, and to them which were in Jattir, and to them
which were in Siphmoth, and to them which were in
Eshtemoa, and to them which were in Rachal, and to them
which were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them which were
in the cities of the Kenites, and to them which were in Hormah,
and to them which were in Chorashan, and to them which were
in Athach, and to them which were in Hebron, and to all the
places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.” (verses 26-31) I love this,
“were wont to haunt,” if you don’t have a King James you are missing out, with
some other dumb translation that says ‘where they used to hang out,’ or
something. “all the places where
David himself and his men were wont to haunt.”
So, over 13 cities named here that David distributed to and cared
for, understanding completely his victory was the LORD’s,
not his. You and I are not manufacturers,
we’re distributors, God has called us, we’re not manufacturers, we’re just
distributors. All that we have to give
and all that we have to show on others as mercy, we don’t manufacture, we just
distribute, we just get to be part of the program. And David has got all of that back in
perspective, now, it’s the LORD’s
battles, it’s the LORD’s
victory, he’s the one who gives, he’s the one who bestows. What David has in his hands is what the LORD
has given him, and he hasn’t given it to David to keep for himself, he’s given
it to David so that he might bestow it upon others. So, one man growing towards God, and now back
to Saul, here’s the sad end of a man whose life has been going, sadly, away
from God. 1st
Samuel 31:1-13 “Now
the Philistines fought against Israel:
and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down
slain in mount Gilboa. 2 And
the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines
slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchishua, Saul’s sons. 3
And the battle went sore against Saul,
and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers. 4
Then said Saul unto his armourbearer,
Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come
and thrust me through, and abuse me. But
his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon
it. 5 And
when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword,
and died with him. 6 So
Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same
day together. 7 And
when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they
that were on the other side Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and
that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the
Philistines came and dwelt in them. 8
And it came to pass on the morrow, when
the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three
sons fallen in mount Gilboa. 9 And
they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of
the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols,
and among the people. 10 And
they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth:
and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan. 11
And when the inhabitants of
Jabesh-gilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul; 12
all the valiant men arose, and went all
night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of
Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. 13
And they took their bones, and buried them
under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.” “Now
the Philistines fought against Israel:
and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down
slain in mount Gilboa.” (verse 1) we’re back up
north, where Saul and the Israelite army is facing the Philistines. So this confrontation is very far north for
the Philistines, up on the other side of the Jarmuk, by the Valley of Jezreel,
the Valley of Armageddon by Mount Gilboa.
The Philistines having a great advantage, they are in chariots, the
whole Valley of Jezreel is there. They
definitely had the advantage, because they’re fighting a rebellious king. When they fought against Deborah and Barak,
the heavens fought for Deborah and Barak, and the chariot wheels stuck in the
mud, and there was a great slaughter and a great victory in the same
place. This is going to be a defeat,
because of Saul’s rebellion. So they
fled from before them, from Mount Gilboa.
“And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and
the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchishua, Saul’s sons.”
(verse 2) and did Saul have to watch this?
We don’t know. We’re not
surprised that Jonathan died here, Jonathan was a man of honour, Jonathan loved
God and country, and was loyal to his father, even understanding his father’s
rebellion, Jonathan gladly, no doubt, laid down his life in battle, remarkable
man. We don’t know much about his other
sons, Abinadab and Melchishua, there’s one more son we will encounter when we
come into 2nd Samuel. But
some interesting things taking place. No
doubt if the sons had lived, Melchishua or Abinadab, one of them would have
tried to have taken the throne. And no
doubt Jonathan then would have had to side with David, because he knew David
was heir to the throne, he’d have had to side with David against his own
family. You know, we look at this, and
it’s hard to read and it’s hard to understand, we think ‘Why Jonathan?’ And Jonathan entered into glory. Jonathan and his brothers entered into
eternity, the way was cleared at this point for David to take the throne
uncontested. [Comment: Jonathan did enter into glory, he will be in
the 1st Resurrection to Immortality, along with David; king David is
promised in prophecy, as Ezekiel 37:21-25, shows, that king David will become
the future king of Israel, over the 12 tribes of Israel, while Jesus Christ
will become King of the whole world.
Jonathan will also be resurrected in this 1st Resurrection to
Immortality, and will more than likely be assigned by God as his reward, to
serve side by side with David, as he always said he was going to do. The 12 apostles are promised to each to
become a king over one of the 12 tribes of Israel—so we’ll have Jesus, King of
kings and Lord of lords, over the whole world, king David, along with Jonathan,
over the 12-tribed nation of Israel, and then the 12 apostles, each the king
over one of the 12 tribes of Israel. We
have an interesting future shaping up with these people, when Jesus begins his
Millennial Kingdom of God on earth at his 2nd coming.] Saul no doubt, bitter, a bitter end having to
watch in battle his sons taken from before him.
“And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and
he was sore wounded of the archers.” (verse 3) Now, “sore wounded” in the Hebrew is
literally “he was writhing in pain,” the Latin Vulgate says that the archers
hit him several times in his abdomen and that he was mortally wounded. Saul here, no doubt in great pain,
wounded. “Then said Saul unto his
armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these
uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was
sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a
sword, and fell upon it.” (verse 4) Now
these are the last recorded words of Saul.
And no doubt, the enemies of God’s people, the enemies in this part of
the world, sometimes were extremely cruel in their victories. It says his armourbearer would not, for he
was sore afraid, maybe his armourbearer heard David more than once say ‘God
forbid that I should touch the LORD’s
anointed.’ The
Age-Old Question About Suicide “Therefore
Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.” the
debate then rises, did Saul commit suicide, some say ‘Well he was mortally
wounded, his fear was his death would be exceedingly cruel, he was going to die
anyhow if he’d fallen into the hands of the Philistines.’ We’re going to hear the Philistines
mocked him, cut off his head, he wasn’t far off in his appraisal no doubt of
what they would have been like. [There
are differing views within the Body of Christ about the fate of the “unsaved
dead.” To view some of these, see https://unityinchrist.com/plaintruth/battle.htm] But at the same time you had David as a man
who seeks God, before the battle, in the battle, trusts God. Saul
is so far from that, his defeat in battle is just secondary. His primary defeat was in his relationship
with the LORD. Because there’s battles earlier in his life
where it says ‘The Spirit of the LORD
came upon Saul,’ and he had great
victory, he trusted the LORD,
he was angry about God’s enemies. Saul
is so far from that at this point in time, it’s so sad, he asks his
armourbearer, which happened in the culture, to thrust him threw. The armourbearer refusing, and then it says
Saul then fell upon his own sword. It
doesn’t say by the way that he died immediately. When we get to 2nd Samuel, and
your responsibility is to read ahead, in 2nd Samuel David will
confront an Amalekite who says ‘I came upon Saul wounded on the battlefield,
and I killed him,’ so the Amalekite is either lying to try to gain
David’s favour, or, look, Saul is writhing, it seems from what we know, having
been wounded in the abdomen with arrows, you don’t die right away. He fell on his sword, we don’t know how weak
he was, he may still have been lying there, in pain. We’re going to find out the Philistines don’t
find his body till the next morning. How
long was it before he died, and was God being merciful, and was he giving Saul
time to cry out and ask forgiveness? Did
the Amalekite find him alive? What are
the answers to these things, and actually was he the one who killed him, or is
he just, when we get to 2nd Samuel, is he just saying that for
David? Suicide, interesting problem in
the Old Testament, did Samson commit suicide, with the Philistines, as he
brought the temple of Dagon down on himself?
Is Ahithophel, we’re going to come to him in 2nd Samuel, who
commits suicide? Judas Iscariot commits
suicide. And we’re all in the mess we’re
in today because Adam committed suicide, ‘and the day you eat thereof you
will surely die.’ Was Adam
eternally secure, who was created in God’s image and likeness?--who was walking
in open fellowship with the LORD? Did he commit suicide? Paul says in 1st Timothy that she
(Eve) was tempted, deceived into it, Adam knew what he was doing, took his own
life [in a sense, he just ended up dying of old age], and the fall came upon
humanity, suicide. Listen, a plague in
our culture, a plague in our culture.
You know, we don’t guard our borders to keep people from escaping, some
countries do that. We guard our borders
poorly, but to keep people from coming in.
Because there are people who want to come here. And yet, in the United States, every second,
every 60 seconds, every minute there’s a suicide attempt, 70 per day succeed,
that’s 3 per hour. So from the time we
started this study, to the time we come to the end of this chapter three people
in this country will have taken their own lives. Many will have attempted, 3 will have
succeeded. That doesn’t include the time
of worship and getting in and out of the parking lot, which would probably take
us to 6, sadly. 24 percent more than are
murdered in the United States. It’s the
9th cause of death amongst adults, it’s the 3rd cause of
death for those 15 to 30 years old, and I’m not sure if it is this year, it was
a few years ago, the number one cause of death amongst teenagers in the United
States was suicide. I thought we had
everything. Well the truth is, that
money doesn’t satisfy. The truth is,
that everything people want to indulge their flesh in, the sinful things in
this nation that it affords us, don’t satisfy.
The truth is, there are millionaires in Betty Ford Clinic, they’re
destroying their lives because what’s out there does not satisfy. The truth is, that anybody who rejects the
Gospel of Jesus Christ after they hear it, is committing suicide. Because the Bible says there’s one name given
on earth among men whereby we must be saved, that’s the name of Jesus, the name
Jesus means ‘God has become Salvation.’
Again, if we reject that, we’re committing suicide, we’re taking our
own life, if it’s presented to us. If
someone presented us an inoculation or an immunization for a disease or
something that was killing us, and we refused it, that would be suicide. If somebody said you have this disease, but
if you let me give you this immunization, this shot, you’re gonna live, and you
refuse to, that’s suicide. All of us
have a disease. Everybody here is
dying. Just thought I’d cheer you up
tonight. For every 100 people born 100
people die. CS Lewis is the one who said “War and disease does not increase
death, because death is total in every generation.” For every 100 people born, 100 people
die. In the history of mankind, war,
terrorism, disease, injustice does not increase death, because death is total
in every generation, because we have an immune suppressant disease, in it will
kill you. You can live in the healthiest
place, you can eat the healthiest food, you can breathe the healthiest air, you
can do the most exercise, you can buy all the machines on TV and all the
juicers and all that, and you are going to die, physical death will come to all
of us. What happens to the soul then?
what happens to the spirit [i.e. what the Bible calls “the spirit in
man”]? Do you
know a God who loves you? Do you know a
God who shed his blood so you don’t have to shed yours? Do you know a God who paid the price? We could look at suicide, a lot of people say
that’s terrible, but the truth is, death is total in every generation. It’s not right for us, obviously, in despair
to take our lives. Because look, here’s
the lie, for people that are despairing, people that are so depressed, they
don’t want to live, people. The truth
is, ‘if I kill my body, it ends my problems,’ that’s not true, first of
all, again there’s no sense killing your body, it got dressed, it ate, it drove
to church, it’s sitting here listening now ‘I wish he’d shut up and stop
talking about this [ya, I do],’ your body works, there’s no sense killing
that. What you’re trying to kill is the
emptiness, the pain, the depression, the fear inside. And you kill the body, and the soul and the
spirit live forever. Suicide is a lie,
Satan himself when he faced Christ he said ‘Cast yourself down, I’ll give
you all the kingdoms of this world,’ and when the demons entered into the
swine it says they ran down and drowned themselves in the lake of Gennesaret in
Galilee, Jesus comes down from the Mount of Transfiguration, there’s a man with
a son, he’s broken, the disciples don’t have power to cast the demon out, and
the father says to Jesus ‘My son has a demon and the demon keeps throwing
him into the fire and into the water, trying to kill him.’ Jesus said in Matthew 10, he
said ‘Don’t fear those who can destroy the body, be afraid of the one who
can destroy body and soul in hell forever.’
That’s where our concern should be, eternity. What about forever, bioneos, eternity,
what about that? What happens then? [the Body of Christ has some differing
beliefs about the soul, the “spirit in man,” and whether it stays conscious or
unconscious at death, and the fate of the https://www.facebook.com/mauryz01 “unsaved
dead,” see https://unityinchrist.com/plaintruth/battle.htm]
The
Philistines Desecrate The Bodies Of Saul And His Sons Isn’t
it interesting, God goes to great detail to take this king, listen, when we
read about David, when we get to 2nd Samuel, chapter 2 beginning in
verse 17 to 27, there’s the Song of the Bow, and David writes a dirge, a song
about Saul, that he was sweet, that he was the king of Israel, David is not
bitter, David does not mock Saul, David does not take personal vengeance,
though Saul had chased him and dogged him.
David sadly sings of the worth of his life, but how sad for Saul at this
point in time. His emptiness is because
he turned away from God. His defeat was
because he turned away from God. The
death of his sons in the army that were with him was because he had turned away
from God, sadly. No prayer, we find no
prayer here, we just hear ‘Kill me, take your sword, take my life, end
this, I don’t want to fall into the hands of the enemy,’ and when his
armourbearer refused it says Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. Look, “And when his armourbearer saw that
Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him. So Saul died, and his three sons, and his
armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together. And when the men of Israel that were
on the other side of the valley, and they that were on the other
side of Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons
were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and
dwelt in them.” (verses 5-7) So
those in the area of Jezreel that were still alive, fled their cities, those on
the other side of the Jordan river, towards Gilead over by Jarmuk and so forth,
they fled, fled their cities afraid, and the Philistines came and lived in
those cities. “And it came to pass on
the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul
and his three sons fallen on mount Gilboa.” (verse 8) because first, they’d
never let other raiding parties take the swords and the shields and so forth,
they came for clothing, they came for spoil.
And this is exactly what Saul was afraid of, “And they cut off his
head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines
round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the
people.” (verse 9) 1st
Chronicles chapter 10 tells us they put it in their temple on display (Saul’s
head). They cut off his head, Saul, you
know, was Israel’s Goliath, he was head and shoulders above any other man in
Israel, and in the natural every Israelite looked at him, ‘he’s the king,
man, he’s Shak, he’s the monster, look at him.’ And they come, and they take his head. I don’t know if they’re remembering what
David had done to Goliath, they take his
head, they stripped off his armour, “and they sent into the land of the
Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and
among the people. And they put his
armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and
they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.” (verses 9b-10) It tells us in 1st
Chronicles 10, verse 10, “they put his armour in the house their gods, and they
fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.” Look, in their minds, what it means is that
their god is more powerful than Israel’s God.
They don’t understand that there’s one God, they think that gods are
geographical. The Bible says God is One,
One God. They think that there’s gods
over other areas, so because they whupped Saul, they think their god had a good
day, and he’s stronger than Israel’s God, so they take his head, they put it in
the temple of Dagon, and they send his armour around to their temples. They’re acknowledging more than Saul did in
some ways, for a false god. They put his
armour in the house of Ashtaroth, a goddess of desire and lust, “and they
fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.” (verse 10b) Bashan, when you
go, if you go on the trip to Israel with us, there’s a huge excavation there,
and the ancient city is on the Tell, you can see how far above the valley it
would have been, and you could imagine the bodies of Saul and his sons,
headless, hanging on the wall for all to see, the Philistines putting them on
display and displaying their victory. The
Men Of Jabesh-gilead The
Question About Cremation “And
when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard of that which the Philistines had
done to Saul; all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body
of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to
Jabesh, and burnt them there.” (verses 11-12)
I’m going to turn back here just for one
second, in chapter 11, you don’t have to turn there, you remember there was an
Ammonite king name Nahash, and he had come to Jabesh-gilead, he was powerful,
he was strong, and he said he wanted all them of Jabesh-gilead to become his
servants, and he said ‘I want you to thrust out your right eyes for a
reproach to Israel, you’re going to be my servants, you’re going to pluck out
your right eyes.’ And they said,
‘Well give us a day to think about it,’ and they went and told
Saul, and Saul was angry, and it says “The Spirit of God came upon Saul,
when he heard those tidings, his anger was kindled greatly, he took a yoke of
oxen, he hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout the coast of Israel by
the hands of the messengers, saying, whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and
after Samuel, so shall it be come unto his oxen, and the fear of the LORD
came upon the people, and they came out with one consent, and when he numbered
them in Busiek, the children of Israel were 300,000, and the men of Judah
30,000, and they sent messengers,” and
so forth, and they had a great victory over Nahash, and they saved the area of
Jabesh-gilead. Now, Jabesh-gilead hears
that Saul and his sons are killed, and their bodies are displayed on the wall
of Bethshan, and the men of Gilead, and in that culture, and I think rightly
so, they have a sense ‘We owe Saul, Saul delivered us, we can’t just stand
idly by and allow this to happen,’ and it says “and the valiant men,”
and even in the hardest of times, God always has valiant men. Interesting, and we’ll find David thank them,
as we come into 2nd Samuel, “all the valiant men arose, and went
all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall
of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. And they took their bones and buried them
under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.” (verses 12-13) Interesting, because sometimes there’s a
question about cremation. Ah, cremation
is not really spoken of in the Old Testament.
Is cremation wrong [no]? Not for
me, some people get the heavy-jeevies when they think of cremation, they think
of hell or something. I think cheap,
that’s what I think [laughter]. I have
life insurance to take care of my wife and kids, I can’t stand the thought of
them spending a lot of money to put me in some fancy brass box in the ground
that I’m gonna ruin when I blow outa there at the Rapture anyhow, waste of
money [i.e. the 1st resurrection to Immortality, cf. https://unityinchrist.com/corinthians/cor15-16.htm]
And some people have convictions, you do
that if you follow your convictions, but is it wrong? You know, the sarcophagus, the word “sarcophagus”
means “flesh-eater,” and in that culture, most of them were made of limestone,
they lay your body in there, and in two years they come back and they scrape
your bones together, because the flesh is gone [unless you get mummified, like
the Egyptians], gone. They scrape the bones
together, they put them in a pot, put the pot aside, and that place is open for
another family member to come there and to be cremated in two years (the
natural way), by the areomachasis, the slow-burning fire of decay. How many Christians have been burned at the
stake as martyrs? How many have died at
sea, eaten of sharks. People say ‘What’s
the Lord going to do in the resurrection, what’s he gonna do? you’re not gonna
have a body,’ hey, that’s all he’s going to have anyway, only the fresh
ones are going to have any assemblance, you know. Everybody that’s been gone for a couple
thousand years are dust by now. It says
this, I’m not sure what point I’m making [laughter], it says in Genesis,
“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the
ground, for out of it wast thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust thou
shalt return.” So God’s gonna
have to deal with that anyway in the resurrection, it’s more glory to him, it’s
just more glory to him. Solomon, the
wisest man that ever lived says this in Ecclesiastes, “Then shall the
dust return to the earth as it was, the spirit shall return unto God who gave
it.” So, from dust to dust. [And as Solomon said in the same passages of
Ecclesiastes, that “the spirit in man” of all mankind goes to heaven to be with
God, the good, the bad, and the ugly, until the resurrection they’re destined
to be in. He also says that those “spirits
in man” remain unconscious, know nothing after death, until resurrected again,
they so they don’t know the passage of time, from death to resurrection, very
interestingly. That kind of blows our
previous concepts of going to heaven into a cocked hat. Upon our resurrection, we will actually go to
heaven, up to the New Jerusalem, for the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, and right
afterward, will come back down to earth riding on white horses, following Jesus
Christ back to earth at his 2nd coming (cf. Revelation 19:7-14 and
Zechariah 14:1-15), and from there we will rule with Jesus over the entire
world, for the Millennium (cf. Revelation 20:4-6, Isaiah 11:1-16, Daniel
12:1-3, John 5:28-29).] The same again,
17 elements out there in the ball field in the dirt are the same exact 17
elements that you’re made of. Dust, this
Space Suit, was taken from the ground, and it returns to it, your spirit
[called in the Bible, the “spirit in man” or “the spirit of man” (cf. 1st
Corinthians 2:9-13)]. Again, fear not
him who can destroy the body, but he who can destroy both body and soul. Now, don’t worry about the cremation of the
body, worry about the cremation of the soul, forever, that’s what you don’t
want to take place. Most people, no
doubt, are comfortable with cremation. I
go back awhile with my wife, because she says ‘There’s no way I’m going to
cremate you,’ ‘I can’t believe you’re doing this, I got life insurance to take
care of you and the kids, you’ll just waste money, it’s cheaper.’ I said, ‘Well, you don’t have life
insurance, so when your time comes,’ this is one argument she won’t be able
to win, you know. If you don’t I’m going
to do this, pine box is a smart way to go, it’s cheaper, they’re so expensive
today too, it’s a joke, wooden box.
Where are we? [laughter] Anyhow, look, I’m joking a little bit,
because people will come up to me and ask me all the time, they’ll say ‘My
mom or my dad said, when they passed away they wanted to be cremated, is it
alright?’ ya it is, it is. They’re not there, they are not
there. To be absent from the body is to
be present with the Lord, the ground is gonna cremate that body in two years
anyhow. So, if you have conviction, you
do the other thing, neither one is right and neither one is wrong. But in the resurrection I want a better model
than this one anyhow, whether, no matter how better anybody preserves it,
that’s not what I want when it’s gettin’ up time, you know. I want to be done with the glasses, and have
gray-away and all that as part of the, that’s what’s going to happen. “And they took their bones, and buried them
under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.” (verse 13) Saul’s epitaph, how sad, I’ll read it to
you, back here in chapter 26, this is what Saul said of himself, and it
was his last words to David, by the way.
He says “I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.” (verse
21c) When we come to chapter 2, 2nd
Samuel, we’re going read David’s last words in regards to Saul, and he’s very
gracious, he loved the man I believe, and thought that it was a loss for Israel
when he was gone, how sad. Read ahead,
there are great things that are coming up in 2nd Samuel, incredible
lessons for us, the great humanness of David, watching God by design. You know, in the Bible it says “and it came
to pass,” and then it gives us chapters of background and you realize ‘No,
it didn’t just come to pass,’ nothing just comes to pass, nothing just
comes to pass in your life, God works, God steers, his providence overrides, he
loves us, we’re his children, we’re not subject to the stars or the planets,
we’re not subject to fate, there’s not fate.
We have a loving Father in heaven, who cares so much for us that he gave
his own Son so that our sins, the ultimate sacrifice, a blood sacrifice, to pay
for our sins, so that we can be forgiven, so that we can have eternity in his
presence. And he cares for us and he
watches over us, he’s our Shepherd, he’s our King, he’s our guide, he’s our
Father. What a wonderful hope we have,
as we watch this world spiraling out of control, what a wonderful hope we
have. Let’s stand, let’s pray. Read ahead, 2nd Samuel. Next week, if the Lord tarries and we’re not
blizzarded out of here, we’ll have Communion, and Wednesday night after that,
if the Lord tarries, we’ll begin our study in 2nd Samuel, so read
ahead…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on 1st Samuel
30:1-31 and 1st Samuel 31:1-13, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary
Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116] related
links: There are those who are able to go to the mission field
wherever it is in the world, and there are those who can’t, but stay with the
stuff and support, see https://www.unityinchrist.com/evangelism/Short-TermMissions.htm The
Body of Christ has some differing beliefs about the soul, the “spirit in man,”
and whether it stays conscious or unconscious at death, and the fate of
the “unsaved dead,” see https://unityinchrist.com/plaintruth/battle.htm What
some people like to call “the Rapture” is really the 1st
resurrection to Immortality, cf. https://unityinchrist.com/corinthians/cor15-16.htm Audio
version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED664
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