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: Whenever someone is killed, it is a very serious matter and will have also very important implications. Therefore, obviously, we don't want to be taking a life unless it is according to God's will. We're going to find out both this week as we begin our study, but especially next week, that there's going to be serious implications for one young man because he participated in the death of what David calls "the Lord's anointed."

With that said, take out your Bible and look with me to Second Samuel chapter one. Again, Second Samuel chapter one. Now, we're going to see that there was a war. We saw that a few weeks ago. That war is going to come to an end with the death of both King Sha'ul and his firstborn son by the name of Yonatan, or Jonathan. And what we're going to see is that there is a man, now in Hebrew we use the term Amalek. Now, we're speaking about an individual who belongs to the Amalekites.

And what I want you to see is that these are enemies of the children of Israel and more than that, we're going to also see that they are enemies of God. Why is that? Because when we look, for example, in the book of Exodus, when the children of Israel came out of Egypt, what happened by the hands of Amalek? We see that this group of people wanted to do something. They wanted to attack those who were weak, those who were old, those who were very, very tired. And why did they do that? Because they have a characteristic very similar to Satan and what is that? He enjoys seeing the sufferings of others, and so do Amalek.

And we find a principle in the book of scripture and that is found in the book of Deuteronomy where it says at the end of that book, "Do not forget Amalek," in order to wipe them up from the face of the earth. What is that speaking about? God's vengeance. And the children of Israel were supposed to place vengeance upon Amalek, that is the Amalekites. Well, let's begin. Look with me, if you would, to that chapter, Second Samuel chapter one. We're going to begin in verse one, where it says: "And it came about after the death of Sha'ul," and notice what happened, it says, "and David returned from striking," and who did he strike? He struck Amalek.

Now, why is that important? It is important because we see a principle. In the same way that David—who's David? Well, we know that David is King David, the son of Yishai or Jesse, but we find another important term and that is Ben David. Whenever we have that term, meaning the son of David, it is a reference to Messiah. And we know that in the end, during the days of Messiah, who's going to come? He's going to come and he is going to carry out that important commandment to put to death, to wipe out those who belong to Amalek.

Now we see David carrying out that, so look again at the second part of verse one where it says: "And David returned into Ziklag for two days." So we see something here. Why two? Well, again, whenever we see that number two, what should come into our mind? Two divergent opinions, meaning this: two things that are against one another. And we're going to see next week as we begin this second lesson, we're going to see that David thought one way, but this young man, this Amalekite, he's going to think a different way. And there's going to be consequences to how we think.

Look now to verse two where it says: "And it came about on the third day and behold." Now, remember that word. Whenever we see that word "behold", it lets us know what's following is of great significance. And this is certainly the case here where it says, "and behold, a man." Now, later on, we're going to find out that this man is actually a younger man, not an old man, but a younger one. It says, "behold a man comes from the camp from Sha'ul," meaning the camp that belonged to King Sha'ul.

And notice what it says. "And his clothes were torn and there was," now some will say dust, but it's not the word dust, that would be abaq. It is the Hebrew word adamah, which means ground. Remember that man was formed from ground, and that's why he's called Adam from this word adamah. But notice what it says: "And there was ground upon his head." Now this usually shows a sign of repentance or remorse or mourning. So ground was upon his head. And it came about when he came to David, notice what he did. It says here, "he fell upon the ground and bowed."

Now, this word for bowed can also be translated, I think some Bibles do, to prostrate oneself, meaning to show respect. So this young man came before David. Who was David? He is the king. He didn't come with an attitude. He was not prideful, but he humbled himself and he showed respect to David. But understand something. Even though that is a right thing to do, realize that if you behave incorrectly, there's still going to be consequences, and we're going to see that undeniably next week when we begin our study.

Look now to verse three where it says: "And David said to him, 'From where will you come?'" meaning, "Where did you come from?" And he said to him, "From the camp of Israel I have escaped." Now look, notice this. Escaped why? Well, we're going to find out that there has been a battle in that camp, a war in other words, and that's the word that's going to be used in a few minutes. Now verse four: "And David said to him, 'What has come about this matter? Tell it please to me.'"

And he said, "The people had fled from," and there's that word milchamah, which does not mean battle, although many Bibles will translate it that. It is a word milchamah, which means war. So there was a war that was going on between Sha'ul and the enemy. It says at the end, "and also many," this is the Hebrew word harbe, "many fell from the people." And then we have a very important concluding statement: "And they killed also Sha'ul and Yonatan his son, they are dead." Verse five.

So we see that the children of Israel, they were being defeated and they fled. And what else? Well, we see another thing that Sha'ul and his firstborn son Yonatan or Jonathan, they are dead. So things are not going well for the children of Israel. Let's press on if we could to verse five. It says here: "And David said to," and then we have a change of word. Earlier on it said ish, which means a man, but here we have a different word. We have the word ha-na'ar, which means the young man.

So now we're told, even though he's a male, he's not an older one, but he is a rather younger man. Look again at verse five: "And David said to the young man, 'Tell to me, how do you know,'" literally, how did you know? It's in the past tense in Hebrew. "How did you know that Sha'ul has died and his son Yonatan, or Jonathan?" And now he's going to explain how this came about, what happened to him that he received this information. Look if you would now to verse six.

And the young man said, who was telling to David. He says, "I happened to be," where? Well, where did Sha'ul and Yonatan die? On a place called Har Gilboa, which is Mount Gilboa. So he says, "I happened to be at Mount Gilboa, and," notice this next word, "vehineh," meaning "and behold" again. This is the second time we've seen this word and always it means something of great significance is going to be shared. In other words, it tells the reader when you see that Hebrew word "behold", and that's true if it's even in the Greek in the New Testament, it means the same thing, to pay attention.

So look again at this text. It says, "And behold, Sha'ul was leaning upon his spear." And again, behold. And it says ha-rekeb, it's in the singular. What is that? It is referring to a chariot. Now, probably the context, and many Bibles translate it this way, means that there were many chariots because in Hebrew, many times when we have a large number, instead of putting it in the plural, we use the singular. Just a nuance of the Hebrew language. So there were probably many chariots.

And notice something else, there were those who were horsemen. We might say cavalry. And what were they doing? They were clinging to him, meaning clinging to Sha'ul. Why? Because Sha'ul is the king. And obviously they would want to see him die. And therefore they're pursuing him, in other words. Now look at verse seven. It says here: "And he," this is probably King Sha'ul, "turned after him," meaning turned towards this young man. And it says here, "he saw me," who? King Sha'ul saw this young Amalekite.

And it says here, "He called to me and I said," what did this young man say? "Hineni." Now, what is that? That term hineni, it's derived from that same word "behold", hineh. But it means "behold I am", and the implication is, "I'm available". Normally when we see that phrase in the Bible, it talks about someone who is prepared to serve, ready to do something and fulfill a request that another, usually a superior one, is making of him. So we see the patriarchs, for example, Abraham and Isaac, they both said this term hineni, showing their availability towards God before the Lord to do what God had commanded. This is the point.

Now let's press to verse eight: "And he said to me, 'Who are you?' And he said to him," meaning this Amalekite said in response, "An Amaleki," meaning "an Amalekite am I." So he says here who he is. Now, in one sense, he belongs to the enemy of Israel. And this is surprising because as an enemy, what would he be interested in doing? He'd be interested in putting the king of Israel to death. But let's press on. Look now to verse nine.

He said to me, this would be Sha'ul speaking to this young Amalekite. He says, "Stand, please, over me." So this could mean stand watch, look out. And then he says something else, "I want you to stand over me for a purpose and put me to death, why? For I am seized," and we have a very important word, this is the Hebrew word for anguish. Now, what does this tell us? It tells us very clearly here that Sha'ul is suffering. He is in great pain, and he uses this word for anguish. He's suffering.

He says, "For has seized me this anguish, for all still," meaning in a very, very strong way, there is still, and notice what he says, "napshi bi," meaning "my soul is in me." Now, that is a Hebrew idiom which simply means he's still alive. He is suffering, he is in anguish, but he is not yet dead. That's the implication. And therefore he is requesting something. Look again, verse 10 now. This is the young Amalekite speaking and he says: "And I stood over him, and I killed him. Why?"

Well, he gives an explanation. He says, "For I have known," meaning "I knew that he would not live," meaning he wouldn't be able to live after he had fallen, and the implication is fallen upon that spear. So what did he do? He says, "I took the nezer," what is that? A different Hebrew word for a crown, "which was upon his head, and the bracelet which was upon his arm, and," he says, "I brought it to my lord towards here." So what is he saying? Well, I was there, I witnessed the death of Sha'ul. In fact, he was responsible for Sha'ul's death.

He was the one who had killed him. And we're going to see that next week. This is something that David took very seriously. And again, remember what I said at the beginning of our study: when someone takes the life of another, it is serious and there is oftentimes very important implications, meaning this: when you tell someone that you have killed another, depending upon who it is, there can be some serious response back towards that person who took another life.

And in this case, we're going to see, as I mentioned, David's perspective. David understood something. He calls him the Lord's anointed, that is, David called Sha'ul the Lord's anointed, and he was. God anointed him to be the king. Unfortunately, Sha'ul was not a very faithful king. He wasn't interested in the word of God. He wasn't interested in the will of God. He was not committed to the purposes nor the priorities of God. But nevertheless, he is still king over Israel.

And unfortunately, we see something. We see that this Amalekite did not respect the fact that he was king over the people of God. And what did he do? As we've already discussed, he put him to death. Well, he says, look at the end of this verse, "I took the crown which is upon his head and the bracelet which was upon his arm, and I brought to my lord towards here." Now, what does that mean? Well, notice, this Amalekite is speaking and he calls David "my lord." Now, normally, that is a way of showing great respect and also loyalty.

But again, David is not going to agree with this Amalekite's action. And again, when you do something that is not right in the eyes of God or in the eyes of the man of God, there may be some very serious implications. And that's what we're going to see next week. Well, let's continue on. Look, if you would, to verse 11. It says here: "And David seized his garment and what did he do? He tore them."

So he took hold of his clothes and he tore his clothes. Why? Well, this is a sign of disagreement. For example, it's very common within Judaism when you hear the death of someone, especially someone that you love, whether it's a family member or close friend, it's very common for you to tear the garment. And that's exactly what we see here, that same word qeriah in the noun sense is being used here. Of course, it's a verb where it says, "and he tore them." But notice something else: "And also all, notice no exceptions, also all the men who were with him."

So they did the same thing. And again, what we find is a statement. We find by David's action that he tore his garment, that means he was not agreeing with the action of this young man. And not only David, notice what else it says: "And all the men who were with him," they also felt this was not the right action that this Amalekite did. And let me just share with you something of great significance and it's this: when we look at Amalek in the Bible, and we see that so frequently there were two kings of the Amalekites, and what do we know about them?

They were very strong and powerful. But Moses, under the leadership and under the obedience of God, Moses was able, through the children of Israel, to defeat these two kings. And so many of the Psalms and so many places elsewhere in the scripture, it talks about this great battle where the two kings of Amalek, they were put to death. They were not able to survive. They were not victorious in the battle. And this is all to show how God is greater than the enemy. And this is something that we need to remember ongoing, and what is that? Our God is great. Our God provides victory. If we submit, if we are humble.