Love Israel

Guest (Male): Shalom and welcome to Ve-ahavta Yisrael, 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 Avraham 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: In this study, I want us to focus in on two words. The first is victory and the second is restoration. You'll recall that David was most discouraged. The reason for that was very simple: there were those from his own people that wanted to stone him to death. They were so grieved about what had happened in that city called Ziklag. We see that not only was the city destroyed and great spoils taken from the people, but also the women and the sons and the daughters were taken into captivity. The people, in a very human way, needed someone to blame, and who was that? It was David.

But what did David do? We look at the Scripture and we see a very important principle. David, nevertheless being discouraged and his life at risk, strengthened himself in the Lord. What a wise thing to do. It is a principle for all of us, no matter who we are. When we are discouraged, when we feel the opposition against us, what should we do? We should strengthen ourselves in the Lord. What can we expect when we do so humbly and in a submissive way to the will of God? We can expect that God will move in our circumstances to bring about a change, a godly change. This change restores our position, meaning that we will go from restoration to victory. This is what God does. He is a God of victory and He restores that which the enemy has taken from us.

Let's remember that as we begin our study. Take out your Bibles and look with me to 1 Samuel and chapter 30. We concluded last week with verse 12, where we saw that there was a young Egyptian man. Now, the word there means he is an older teenager, not someone who is 13 or 14, but perhaps 17, 18, or 19 years of age. We see that he had a notable position among his master. Who was his master? Well, we're going to discover that from the word of God. Look with me, as I said, to 1 Samuel chapter 30, and we're going to begin with verse 13.

David said to him, to this young Egyptian man, "Who are you and from where are you?" This young man said, "I am an Egyptian, a servant of the Amalekites." He says, "My master has left me because three days ago I was sick." We see here that this man had been sick for three days. Because of that, his master, who was part of Amalek, left him. Amalek is a very important word. We see in the Scripture, in the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 25, that we will have an eternal enemy. That enemy, throughout the beginning of time until the end, will be Amalek.

Amalek was a ruthless individual. We see that they were a people that attacked the children of Israel when they were coming out of Egypt. Amalek attacked those who were weak, those who were tired, and those who were elderly. Why? Because they had a consistent character that was satanic in nature. Satan is an adversary. He likes to bring opposition, suffering, pain, and agony upon others. That is what motivates him. Therefore, Amalek has that same character. They are not someone that wants to help, not someone that wants to bless, or do good, but quite the contrary.

The Bible tells us that for all of time, Israel will have a battle with Amalek from the past on up to the end. But what's going to happen? Well, when Messiah comes, He is going to give Israel victory and He is going to bring about restoration for His people—His Old Testament people who are now New Covenant believers. We see that there's going to be that remnant in the last days that do indeed come to faith in the gospel. They are going to trust not only in Messiah but also in the death of Messiah.

When is that going to happen? The Bible's very clear. When we look at the word of God, it says that when they look upon Him whom they have pierced, they are going to mourn. They are going to lament and they are going to receive Him, recognizing who He is and what He has done for them. They're going to remember this one who has been pierced in their behalf. This is what the Scripture is telling us.

Notice this one who was sick for three days. Look at verse 14. "We invaded the south." Here again, that word for south is Negev, and it means the south of Israel. There, there was also another group of people, the Cherethites. That's how it's said in Hebrew, but we learn something from a study of this word. It is from a Hebrew verb which means to cut down. Some will say that this group of people were a group of assassins. They were not a kind people, but those who benefited from putting others to death.

Obviously, the Philistines wanted to go to war against them. It says also concerning Judah and the southern part of Caleb. Caleb was one of the two spies, along with Joshua, that had faith. It says the southern part of Caleb and Ziklag with fire we burned. Verse 15: and David said to him—David understands that this one has some valuable information—and he says, "Will you bring me down to this battalion?" David wants to go to war against them. Why? He wants victory and he wants to restore the things that they have taken captive.

This young Egyptian says, "Swear to me in God that you will not kill me and you will not deliver me over into the hand of my master." His master was Amalek. He says, "And I will bring you down to this battalion." He is going to assist David in order that David will be able to bring about this retribution and be victorious. There will be a restoration of what the enemy had taken away from them. Salvation is also a restoration. When we are redeemed by the blood of Messiah, all that the enemy has taken away from us, God is going to restore. We should be encouraged by this. This is a great example of a biblical passage that tells us what we can expect in the future.

Verse 16: and he took him down and behold, those who were abandoned on the face of all the earth. Those who were abandoned abandoned their posts. What were they doing? The Scripture says they were eating and drinking and celebrating with all the great spoil which they took from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. If you understand biblical geography, the southern part of Israel is where the Philistines were and also the children of Israel. Both of them lived in this area of land in the southern part of Israel called the Negev. These individuals had abandoned their posts. They were no longer at war but were eating, drinking, and celebrating because of this great spoil that they had taken from the children of Judah and also from the Philistines.

But there's going to be a change. Look now to verse 17. We see this change that David is going to bring about. "But David struck them from early evening until the evening of the following day." What we see here is 24 hours or more of David bringing about retribution upon the enemies of Israel. The enemies of Israel are also the enemies of God. David is at work for this period of time, for this day, bringing about judgment. That judgment that David was administering on the enemies of Israel led to victory. It's going to bring about a restoration of what the enemy had taken away from them.

"And no one was able to escape from them, not a man other than the 400 men that were young, which rode away upon camels and they fled." So, there were 400 individuals that escaped the judgment of David. But what did David do? Look at verse 18. "And David rescued all what Amalek had taken and including that was his two wives David rescued." What we're seeing here is a clear example of David being used by God after being strengthened in the Lord. David found strength in the Lord and it was that strength that caused him to move in such a way to bring about victory for the people of God and also a restoration of what the enemy had taken.

Verse 19: and there was not absent, or not missing of them, whether it be small or great, including no sons or daughters or from the spoil which all that they had taken of them; everything David restored. What a wonderful promise. We see several times in this passage how God is moving to bring about restoration. What is the purpose of this passage? To show us that if we strengthen ourselves in the Lord—and there is no other source of strength and power—this strengthening ourselves in the Lord is going to bring upon us the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

When we trust in God, depend upon God, humble ourselves, and have a spirit of submissiveness in order that we want to carry out the will of God, God's will is going to bring about victory for His people. The word victory in Hebrew, "nitzachon," is also related to the Hebrew word "Yeshua," which is salvation. So, we see salvation and victory is what Messiah brings about for His people. This was true for the Old Testament people under the leadership of David. David is known as "Ben David," the son of David, which is a messianic title. Therefore, those who believe in the son of David, Messiah Yeshua, Jesus of Nazareth, can expect the same thing: we experience victory and a restoration.

Everything David restored. Verse 20: and David took all the flock, all the cattle that they drove away before that livestock. We see here that there were flocks, meaning sheep and goats, and there were also cattle. They drove it away with other cattle as well, other livestock in addition to that. And they said, "This is the spoil of David." Who's saying that? Well, when that enemy came to that city Ziklag and they burnt the city and took all of the spoil, they were reminding and mocking David that this is the spoil or the plunder or the booty of David. But even though they thought that they had victory over David, there is no victory over the son of David. David is going to bring about for his people eternal victory.

Look at our last verse, verse 21. "And David came to the 200 men." Remember, we talked about how with David, there was a total of 600 men. But we remember last week in our study that he used 400 as soldiers and 200 were so exhausted, worn out because of what they had been through. Therefore, David deposited these 200 men. "And David came to the 200 men which were exhausted from walking after David. And he caused them to dwell in this dry riverbed called Besor."

Here we have a reference to the same word for gospel. This is the word "Besor"; the term for gospel is "Besorah." It comes from a word which means good news, but specifically good news about redemption. Messiah is called the redeemer. It is only through Him that you can experience redemption. Let's be very biblically accurate. Hebrews 9:12 says not by the blood of goats and cattle and calves and sheep, but rather through His own blood. He did the work, dying upon that cross on Passover. Passover is a day of redemption. That's what we learn over and over in the word of God. In fact, even today, when we celebrate Passover in Judaism, we talk about it's the day of our redemption.

His blood purchases for us eternal redemption. That gives us confidence, it gives us an unshakable hope, and it tells us that we don't have to doubt, that we don't have to fear, because God will never leave us nor forsake us. God will not be careless with His people, but He loves us and He demonstrated His love for us by sending His only begotten son, Messiah Yeshua, into this world to lay down His life and through His blood, He purchased for us eternal redemption.

These men were utterly exhausted from walking after David. So, he caused them to dwell in this riverbed called Besor, which relates to good news. They went out to meet David and to meet the people which were with David. David went forth to meet the people and he asked them concerning Shalom. What is Shalom biblically speaking? Shalom relates to a restoration. It's putting things back. Whenever we talk about Shalom, something should come into our mind: biblical Shalom is when there's a restoration of the will of God. We can only experience biblical peace, Shalom, when the will of God is fulfilled.

Who's going to ultimately fulfill this will of God? It is Messiah. He is sent into this world to do so, and when God's will is fulfilled, we can expect victory. We can expect this restoration that the enemy is not going to have victory over us. But we, through faith in Messiah, we will know this eternal victory. We will enjoy the blessings of God, the promises of God forever and ever and ever. So, with Messiah, there is good news. That's why one of the primary terms we see in the gospels for Messiah is the son of David. We can learn a lot about the work of Messiah from passages that speak about David's work, what David accomplished to bring about victory and restoration for his people.

It didn't matter what the enemy had done because David humbled himself and David trusted in the Lord. David was strengthened in order to be used by God. Being strengthened in the Lord prepares you to be used by God in order that you are equipped to carry out the will of God. There's nothing better for you to do than for you to do God's will. When we are in God's will and completing God's will, we are going to know a joy, a joy that empowers us. What does the Scripture say? The joy of the Lord is our strength. It is only when we are in God's will, doing God's will, that we can expect this empowerment to come.

When the Scripture says that David strengthened himself in the Lord, it tells us that David was committed to God's will. Understand a very important and simple principle: nothing spiritually in your life is going to change until you be committed to the will of God. It is only when you are committed to God's will, when you bring yourself submissively under His purposes, His priorities, His plan, only then are you going to experience that anointing of the Holy Spirit that is going to equip you and provide for you everything that you need in order to do the will of God. When we accomplish God's will, there is going to be a biblical Shalom, a biblical restoration to the will of God. This is what David is demonstrating. He's bringing this about because he wants to be used by God to serve God and carry out the will of God.

So let me ask you a question: how committed are you to God's will? Is there anything more important in your life than the will of God? If there is, let me just share with you in love, you have a spiritual problem. You're not seeing things as you should. You are not understanding the truth of Scripture. If you want to know what is good, what is holy, what is virtuous, what is going to be a source of joy for your life, it is God's will. So don't be deceived by the enemy. Don't be deceived by false teaching thinking that what you want is the best thing for you. If what you want is not what God wants for your life, it is going to be a source of defeat. It is going to bring loss and emptiness and frustration, and you will not know the joy of the Lord, which means you won't have that anointing, you won't have that strength, you won't have that ability to carry out and do the things that God has called you to do. God is good. Let us do what is good: His will.

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'll find articles and numerous other lectures by Baruch. These teachings are in video form. You 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.