Love Israel

Guest (Male): Shalom and welcome to a Hebrew phrase which means you shall love Israel. We hope you'll stay with us for the next 30 minutes as our teacher Dr. Baruch shares his expository teaching from the Bible. Dr. Baruch is the senior lecturer at the Zera Abraham Institute based in Israel. Although all courses are taught in Hebrew at the Institute, Dr. Baruch is pleased to share this weekly address in English. To find out more about our work in Israel, please visit us on the web at loveisrael.org. That's one word, loveisrael.org. Now, here's Baruch with today's lesson.

Dr. Baruch Korman: We talked last week about the implications of taking a life. And again, taking a life is always very serious, and it can also have serious implications as this young man is going to find out very soon in our account today. So, with that said, to get your Bible and look with me if you would to 2 Samuel chapter 1 and we're ready for verse 13. Again, 2 Samuel chapter 1 and we're going to begin with verse 13. And here again, we saw how this Amalek, that means a man from that location, the Amalekites, how this one did not give much thought to putting to death the king over Israel.

And now, we're going to find that there are implications and an outcome from slaying the Lord's anointed. So, let's begin. Look with me to verse 13 where it says, And David said to the young man who was speaking to him, From where are you? And notice his response. He says, A son of a ger. Now, a ger has a couple different meanings. In some situations, a ger means a convert, someone who has embraced, and in this case, the God of Israel. But also, this is taken from a Hebrew word which means dweller. So, it could simply mean that he dwells in the land of Israel and perhaps has not converted to the faith in the God of Israel.

And again, he says Amaleki, which means a Amalek, a person from that people, the Amalekites. He says, I am verse 14. And David said to him, How is it that you were not fearful to set forth your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed? Now, over and over, we see this biblical truth, and that is this. When David speaks of Saul, he only has respect. We saw last week that David was mourning and lamenting for the death of Saul. Now, even though Saul was very mean to David, was pursuing him in order to put him to death, David did not have those same feelings towards Saul.

And we're going to see something more than that in a few minutes. So, David asked a question, how is it that you were not fearful to slay the Lord's anointed? And what does that mean? It means simply that this this king, King Saul, had a call on his life. And everyone who enters into a covenant with God, that person will have a call upon their life. The question is this, and this is true for all of us. Are we going to be faithful to that call? Are we going to do the expectations of God? Are we going to submit or are we going to do things our way?

And let me just simply point out, our way is always the wrong way. Look now to verse 15. And David called to one of the young men. Now, this would be some young men who were with David and who were with that Amalek, the one who was speaking to David. So, he calls to one of the young men and he says, approach, meaning approach this individual, and it says, strike against him and slay him and he died. So, this young man was faithful. He got an order from the king. Of course, King David is the heir apparent.

He is indeed the Lord's anointed. And what do we find? He gives an order for this Amalek, this person from the Amalekites, to be put to death. And this one young man carried it out. Look now to verse 16. And David said to him, your blood, meaning to this Amalek, your blood is upon your head. For with your mouth, you have testified or you have answered against yourself saying, I have killed the Lord's anointed. So, make no mistake about it. It's clear from the words that he spoke to David that he had no problem in putting Saul to death and taking a life, and he did so without consulting with God, without thinking of any of the implications that may come upon him because he killed the king of Israel.

Let's now look at the next verse, verse 17. Now, in verse 17, there is a very significant word. Now, I'm familiar with that word because of a very important observance. You see, when we come to Tishah B'Av, what is Tishah B'Av? It is a very important day in the fifth month when we remember the destruction of both the first temple and also the second temple. You may not know this, but according to scripture, we find that both temples, the first temple that King Solomon built and the second temple which was remodeled by by Herod, both of them were destroyed.

The first by the Babylonians, the second by the Romans. We see both of these temples were destroyed on the same day. And what is that? The ninth of Av. Now, if you know a little bit about Judaism, the number nine speaks about an action, a deed. And we find the term Av is the Hebrew word for father. And what we see here is that it was God himself that moved in order to destroy not just the first temple, but also the second temple as well. Look at verse 17. And David, now many Bibles will say lamented, but it's a stronger word than simply a normal lamenting.

So, David, in a very very passionate way, lamented with And notice what it says. This lamentation, same root word, meaning a very strong lamenting concerning Saul and Jonathan, his son, verse 18. And he said to teach the children of Judah, and we have just a one word, the word for bow. Now, a bow is a weapon of war. And what David is doing here is that he's having to write down, and we'll talk about this book in a moment, but write down this this prayer or song of lamentation which he entitres entitles a bow. And he says, Behold, it is written concerning the book.

And when we look at it literally, it says the book of Hai Yashar. Why is that? Upright. Now, what we find here is that this book entitled Hai Yashar, Sefer Hai Yashar, it means the book of the upright. And what is that speaking? Well, many would see it as a book where things are recorded, whether someone is is upright or someone is not. So, we see very clearly here that this is being recorded in this book for a testimony to who? As it says here, to the children of Judah. Now, verse 19. Now, again, we look at a word, and again, every word in the scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

And we should pay attention to the revelation of God's word. Why is that? Look at verse 19. We have the word Now, what is that mean? Well, this is used a couple times in other places in the scripture, and it speaks about something that is beautiful, something that is pleasing, and something which is the workmanship of God. Think that is very very important that we see this. And what are is the subject here? Well, look at verse 19. Beautiful is Israel on your high places. And notice what it says. Is slain. Now, this is speaking about, as we'll see in a moment, how the mighty ones have fallen, fallen into death.

And when we look at this, we see that on the high places, these elevated places is where both Saul, the king, and also we see his son Jonathan or Jonathan have died. And that 's why David is paying tribute when he says, How have the mighty ones fallen? Verse 20. Do not let it be said in Gath that is in that location, one of the Philistine cities. And do not And we have a word which means to present something that is good news. So, let not it be proclaimed as good news in the streets of Ashkelon, another of the Philistine city.

And let the daughters of the Philistines should be glad. And then it says, let the daughters of the uncircumcised And this next word speaks about rejoicing or exalting. So, we don't want any praise in these Philistine cities in regard to the death of King Saul or his son Jonathan. So, instead of giving any uh uh praise or happiness or exultation, instead of that, David is saying is don't let anything in regard to gladness or happiness be said at this time. Now, look at the end of verse 20. We see something very important. Remember who's speaking.

This is David speaking. And one of the things that that David addressed when he saw Goliath, which was from Gath, that that city, that Philistine city, is that he said to Goliath, you uncircumcised Philistine. Now, what does that mean when it says you uncircumcised? Well, this is very important because it speaks about a condition. Someone who is uncircumcised, what does it emphasize? Well, circumcision brings about something. In a physical way, it brings about the death of the flesh. So, when David is saying this uncircumcised Philistine, what it's telling us is that Goliath was a man ruled by his flesh.

It's only through circumcision that one uh is changed and there's that that death of the flesh. Now, let me ask you a question. How was it that Abraham entered into that covenant, the Abrahamic covenant? Well, the scripture tells us in Genesis 15 in verse six where it says, And Abraham believed in God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. So, we see something. It is belief. We could say it differently. It is faith that brings about the death of the flesh. That's why it was in regard to the Abrahamic covenant that circumcision was was instituted for the children of Israel.

Not necessarily part of the law of Moses. Why is that? Well, Paul tells us in the book of Romans, when a a person reads the commandments of God, what does Paul say? It it breeds into us this desire of rebelliousness. That's not a good thing. That is an outcome of the flesh. So, we, when we just look at the commandments of God and we're not born again, we haven't been regenerated, we haven't been saved, we do not have the Holy Spirit. What's it saying here? Well, the law is going to cause our passion and our sinfulness to be aroused, to be ignited against the things of God.

That's what the law does for someone who is not yet a believer. It it mediates rebelliousness. Now, that's not good, but that is not God's intent. God wants to redeem us so that we can be brought under submissiveness to the purposes of God. Well, look on to our next verse, verse 21. The mountains of Gilboa, be not dew. Now, dew is synonymous with a blessing. Then it says, And not rain upon you, referring to the mountains of of Gilboa. And all of this is speaking about a curse. When there's no rain and no dew, the land is curse.

And it says, And fields of offerings It's in the plural, offerings for there And notice what it says. The shield of the mighty, the shield of Saul. And notice what it says. Literally, if we look at this word, it's the Hebrew word nig'al. It means something that is loathed, something that is rejected, something I think many Bibles will say cast away, something that you do not want. And then it talks about how the the shield of Saul was not anointed with oil, meaning it was not uh something that was touched by God. And what is that trying to do?

Explain to us why Israel lost this battle because Saul's seal or shield was not anointed with oil. Anytime we see a lack of anointing, what should come into our mind? It is speaking about the the lack of the Holy Spirit in this situation. Just learn this principle. Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot accomplish anything that's pleasing to God. We are solely dependent upon the anointing of the Holy Spirit to lead us, to guide us, to empower us, to provide for us the things that we need in order that we can accomplish the things of God.

So, move on to now verse 22 where it says, From the blood of the slain ones, from the fat of the mighty ones, the bow of Jonathan did not return back. And the sword of Saul did not return empty. So, what do we see here? Well, even though they were not successful, they did bring about some casualties among the children of the Philistines, and of course, we're also talking about Amalek. And eventually, it's going to be Ben David, meaning the son of David, which is a term for the Messiah, who is going to be the one who brings about the defeat of Amalek.

And why is that important? Well, we talked about this last week. In the book of Deuteronomy, it talks about do not forget Amalek, to wipe him out. So, there's no longer a memory of him. Now, this is an important commandment, and I want you to see something. I want you to remember that Saul failed in doing that. Why? He allowed this Amalek by the name of Agag to survive. And we see that from Agag, what happened? A very wicked one by the name of Haman was born. So, because Saul did not carry out what he should have done in blotting out any memory of Amalek in this world because he did not What came about?

Wicked Haman who had a plan to exterminate the Jewish people. Well, let's press on. Look if you would to verse 23 where it says, Saul and Jonathan, they were beloved and they were pleasant ones in their lives. And in their deaths, they were not separated. But rather, it says, As the eagles are swift and as the lions are strong, it's time to pay tribute to these two men. And who's doing that? Who's writing this down? Well, in many ways, this is David speaking. And we see that David did not have animosity. Now, he would have been justified with all the evil things that Saul wanted to do to him, but this was not David's nature.

He was not a petty individual. He was not someone that wanted retribution to get even. But what did David want to do? He wanted to honor Saul. Why? Because he is the Lord's anointed one. And God does not make any mistakes. Now, in this case, we know something. God anointed Saul. Why? Not because he was God's choice, but because he was the people's choice. And again, learn this principle. Whenever we make our own decisions, whenever we do things according to what is right in our eyes, it is going to be evil in the eyes of God.

What is evil? It is going to be against God's plans, his purposes, his will. So, what do we need to do? We need to be praying, and this is wise counsel. Be praying that you always agree with God. I promise you this. You will never have regret for the times that you have agreed with God. But hear this. Those times that you don't agree with God, be assured that is going to be a time of great regret. You're going to have remorse for disobeying God again. When we are wise enough and humble enough to say yes to God, there's going to be fruit.

There's going to be good deeds. There's going to be things that are righteous. And these righteous deeds are going to manifest God's glory. This is what we're supposed to do. Look now to verse 24. He talks about the daughters of Israel. And he says, To Saul, weep. The one in speaking about Saul, the one who clothes you in crimson and in delicacies, meaning the finer things, the finer clothes, and who brought up And the implication is upon you uh golden jewelry upon your your dress, your outfits, what you wore. So, we see something here. From one standpoint, Saul was financially successful.

And he was able to bring the wealth that his administration had, bring it in into the people in order that they were were blessed by this success. But overall, Saul was a disappointment from a spiritual standpoint. Let me just say something. I think this is an important principle. You can be very successful financially. That says nothing about your spiritual condition. This is something that we have to learn. There's many people who have abundant wealth, but God's not pleased with them. They're not walking with God. This is the principle that we learn from Saul. Well, let's press on.

Look now to verse 25 where it says, How the mighty ones have fallen in the midst of Again, this word milchamah, ha milchamah, the war. And it says, Jonathan, upon your high places was slain. And then notice David's words. Look at verse 26. He says, Saul lee. What is Saul? It's a word for tribulation, distress, trouble. And he says basically, distress is to me concerning you, my brother Jonathan. And notice what else David says. He says here concerning Jonathan, he says, you were pleasant or literally, you were very pleasant to me. And he says, your love was wondrous to me more than the love of women.

Now, what does he meant mean by this? Well, nothing immoral, obviously. What do we know? What he was saying is that this friendship And that's exactly what it was. This friendship between David and Jonathan, it was a close friendship that was pleasing to David. And we find that their relationship was so close, even closer than a man could have with a woman. Now, obviously, when you're talking about marriage, that should be your wife should be your closest confidant. You should trust her, you should cherish her, and such and vice versa for the wife, her husband.

But what David is saying here is that this was a unique relationship of friendship, a friendship that honored God, a friendship that was was truly satisfying to these two men. Well, let's conclude. Look if you would to verse 27, our last verse, where it says again. And this is the third time it says, How the mighty ones have fallen. And then notice something else. It says, and the vessels of war Now, this could also mean the weapons of war. They have perished. And what does that mean? Well, it means simply this. If you think that victory is based upon your weapons, you are sadly mistaken.

You can be physically strong, you can have a great great arsenal of weapons and such. But as we see in the book of Kohelet, Ecclesiastes, the race doesn't always go to the fastest, nor does the victory always go to the most numerous people. But time and chance And let me share something with you. God is over both of these. And if we will submit to God's timing, we will find that there will be a change in the outcome that we experience. So, time and chance. When you get your life on God's timing, you are going to find that there's going to be a great result, a great outcome from that.

But again, how do you do that? Very simply, you have to agree with God. And when we look at David, now David had some some frailties. We saw that. But notice something else. David was someone the Bible says several times, a man after God's own heart. And because of that, what should we expect? We should expect that David is going to be placed back in that position. And he was. He is And we'll see this in a few chapters that David is going to be received by the children of Israel. What do I mean the children of Israel?

All the tribes. They're going to come to David, and they're going to acknowledge him as God did as king over the children of Israel. And David is going to be used in a mighty way. We're going to see so many things that David did that are prophetic. What do I mean by that? Things that are a testimony of what the Messiah is going to do in the last days. That's why I say prophetic. They're going to give us these deeds that David did. They're going to give us a perspective for understanding what Messiah is going to do, why we should revere him, why we should submit to him.

So, over and over, understand that David is indeed a typology. And this term Ben David, the son of David, is a term that informs us about who the Messiah is going to to be like. And what is that? Messiah is going to be like his heavenly father. So, we see that Messiah, although he was conceived in a natural way, not entirely because this one, Messiah I'm speaking about, was conceived by means of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit represents an anointing. It represents the purposes and the plans of God. And that's what we need to realize.

We're only going to find success. We're only going to find joy. We will only be exalting exalting God hopefully if we are the recipients of what Lord is doing in our life. If you are left to yourself, you will be miserable. It is only when you surrender and you submit and you obey and you walk in the anointing of the Holy Spirit, then and only then are you going to find God's success in your life to his praise.

Guest (Male): Well, we hope you will benefit from today 's message and share it with others. Please plan to join us each week at this time and on this channel for our broadcast of loveisrael.org. Again, to find out more about us, please visit our website, loveisrael.org. There you will find articles and numerous other lectures by Baruch. These teachings are in video form. May download them or watch them in streaming video. Until next week, may the Lord bless you in our Messiah Yeshua, that is Jesus, as you walk with him. Shalom from Israel.