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: Let's begin with a very simple principle. If you are not interested in God's will, being faithful to Him, carrying out His purposes and priorities, then do not expect God will be responsive to you, to your prayers, to your supplications, to those things that you want Him to do in your life. If you're not committed to Him, God will not be committed to you. And you say, "Where's that taught in the Bible?" Very simply, the Bible teaches and Messiah taught this, the measure that you use will be measured back to you.

So if you are uncommitted, uninterested, apathetic in regard to the plans and the purposes of God, do not expect that God will be active in your life. And that is exactly what Saul is experiencing. Well, take out your Bible and look with me to 1 Samuel chapter 28, and we're now ready for verse 11. You might recall that because God was non-responsive to Saul, what did he do? He requested from those who were around him to find him a woman who was a sorceress. For what purpose? He wanted to know what to do because God was not speaking to him whatsoever. Therefore, he turned to the occult, turned to a medium, turned to a sorceress in order to get communication from another source, and of course, a very ungodly source.

So let's begin, 1 Samuel chapter 28 and verse 11, where it says: The woman said, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" And there's an emphasis here on this expression "for you," meaning it's not for her benefit, but rather it is for his benefit. He's thinking only of himself. So she says, "Whom do you want that I should bring up for you?" And he said, that is Saul answered, and he said, "Samuel bring up for me." There's that same expression, "for me."

Verse 12: And the woman saw Samuel. Now here again, there's different opinions whether this is literally Samuel or if this is a demonic manifestation for Samuel. Now there's different opinions on that. We're not going to deal with that or give a speculation in regard to what is she seeing, but it's interesting because there's something unique about this situation. Look again at verse 12: And the woman saw Samuel, and notice what she did. This tells me that this is something different than her normal experience because it says: And she yelled, that's literally what it says, she yelled in a great voice. And the woman said to Saul saying, "Why have you," and most Bibles will say deceived me, but if you look at this correctly, this is a word that speaks about cheating. It speaks about dishonesty, and this is what Saul is about.

He does not speak the truth because he is not interested in the truth. Those who want to serve God, those who want to be found faithful, they are committed to the truth of God. In fact, we have mentioned many times in our study that the biblical word for faith comes from the same root that we get the Hebrew word *emet* or truth from. So what is faith? Faith is when we are committed to the truth of God. But Saul was not. So we see here in this scripture she's saying, "Why have you cheated me? You are Saul." So she knows who he is.

Let's press on to the next verse, verse 13: And the king said to her, "Do not fear, for what have you seen?" And the woman said to Saul, and notice this next word, it's the word *Elohim*. Now it's interesting because many Bibles will translate that that she saw a spirit. Some others will even say a divine being. This shows that they do not understand a nuance of Hebrew because the word *Elohim*, which is the basic word for God in the Hebrew language, also has to do with judgment. So when we see the word *Elohim*, we shouldn't just think about God, but rather we should think about God who is Judge. And what is this doing? This is foreshadowing what's going to happen and it'll be confirmed before we conclude our study today, that judgment is coming upon Saul and because he's the king over Israel, also upon Israel. So it says: The woman said to Saul, "Judgment," literally, "I have seen coming up from the earth," meaning get ready, you're going to be judged.

Verse 14: And he said to her, "What is his description?" And that's literally what the word means, "his description." And she says, "An old man is coming up and he is clothed with a coat." And Saul knew that Samuel, it is Samuel. And what did he do? It says he bowed his face towards the ground and did something. Now this next word is usually associated with worship. And here's the problem. We find that Samuel, he's a man of God, but nevertheless, he's merely a man. But what is Saul doing? He is bowing down, we saw that earlier with a different word, and then this word *lehishtachavot*, meaning simply that he is extending to Samuel that which is only reserved for God.

Why? Well, remember what we've seen. God is not responding to Saul. And therefore he is turning to Samuel as a source of divine revelation. And what is he going to get? He's not going to get revelation. He is going to get judgment. That is what ultimately Samuel's going to reveal to him in this passage of scripture.

Verse 15: And Samuel said to Saul, "Why," and notice this, many Bibles will say disturbed me, but if we look at it, we see something very different. If you do a good study of this word, it is the Hebrew word for making someone very angry. This is what the Word of God is teaching us. So he says, "Why have you angered me to bring me up?" And Saul said, notice, "Trouble," and it's a word that modifies it, "exceedingly or very much trouble is to me." Why? "The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned from me and He does not answer me any longer, also by means of the power of the prophets," it's a word for hand, which sometimes can relate to power, "also by means of the prophets, also by means of dreams." He says, "I will call to you to make known what I should do," meaning I've called you, I've brought you up. Why? In order that I might know what I should do.

Verse 16: Now notice, Saul has no revelation from God. He's confused about his circumstances. He does not know what to do. What would be in his best interest? Let me tell you, consulting the dead is never in someone's interest. It is fortune telling, it is sorcery, it is by using a medium in order to have contact with the dead. God is not a God of the dead. God, the Bible says, is a God of the living. So it's very problematic what Saul is doing.

Verse 16: And Samuel says, "Why do you ask me? The Lord has turned away from you and has become," and notice this next word, "your enemy." Now again, there's a principle. When we are uninterested in God's will, when we are not taking seriously the instructions of God, the commandments of God, the will of God, what is God going to do? He is not going to see us as His friend. He's not going to acknowledge us as part of His family. But we are going to be viewed by God as an enemy. And this is what Saul has happened to him. He is seen as the enemy of God because he is no longer interested in serving God, doing those things that a true believer would do.

Let's press on. Look if you would to verse 17: And the Lord has made for Him just as He has spoken in my hand. And what is that? The Lord will tear away the kingdom from your hand and He will give it to, and we have an interesting word, it's the word *rea*, which can be a neighbor or a friend or a trusted individual. And notice, this is what God is saying about David. He is a trustworthy individual. And the one that He's going to give it to is indeed to your friend, to David.

Verse 18: Just as you would not listen to the voice of the Lord and you would not do, therefore he says: His strong anger against Amalek, therefore this thing he has done to you, the Lord has done to you this day. So because you would not carry out the strong anger of God against who? Against Amalek. Now Amalek is a very important term in the Bible. We are told in the book of Deuteronomy that Amalek will be a perpetual enemy of the children of Israel. And remember, not too long ago we've completed our observance of Purim from the book of Esther, and we find that Haman is a descendant of Amalek. Amalek are wicked people. They're not interested in the things of God, the purposes of God, the will of God. And therefore we see just in this case that God wants Saul to render God's anger, His punishment upon Amalek, but Saul did not do that.

Verse 19: And the Lord has given also Israel with you into the hands of the Philistines. Now this is what I talked about earlier with this word *Elohim* that relates to God as judge. Therefore *Elohim* is in the plural, *El* is in the singular. *Elohim* speaks about abundant judgment. That's what God's going to do to the children of Israel. So look again at verse 19: And the Lord has given also Israel with you into the hands of the Philistines and tomorrow you and your sons with me will be with me, also the camp of Israel the Lord will give into the hand of the Philistines. So over and over what is being spoken of? Judgment. We see that the sons of Saul are going to die. They are also going to be with Samuel. Now what does that mean? Simply saying Samuel has died and they're going to die as well. And also there will be much death among the children of Israel because of their wicked leader, and who are we talking about? Saul. What makes him wicked? He is not committed to the things of God.

Verse 20: And Saul quickly, notice he went fastly, and it says that he fell his full stature towards the earth and notice, he was greatly afraid from the words of Samuel. Also power was not to him or in him because he had not eaten any bread all day and all night. So notice, this probably signifies that he was really trying to connect with God and he was fasting, not eating anything whatsoever all day and all night.

Verse 21: The woman came to Saul and she saw that he was exceedingly fearful. And she said to him, "Behold your maidservant has heard your voice, and I have set my," most Bibles say life, it's literally the word soul, "I have set my soul in my hand," meaning I have risked my life for you. "And I have heard your words which you have spoken unto me." So she's saying here, "I have heard what you've said and I have done what you have asked for me to do."

Now she's going to go on, look at verse 22: "And now listen please also you to the voice of your maidservant and I will place before you some bread, a piece of bread or a morsel of bread and you eat and it will come about in you for power because you will go on the way," meaning she doesn't want to continue this relationship with Saul. She knows that God is against him, that God's judgment is coming upon him, and she's saying basically, "Let me give you something to eat and then go on your way." She wants them away from her because she knows that he is a source or a target for the anger of God.

Verse 23: Now this is what she is suggesting and what does he do? Look at verse 23: And he refuses and he says, "I will not eat." But notice, his servants basically urged him and also the woman, and in the end he heard their voice. And it says he got up from the earth from where he was and he sat upon the bed. Very significant, sat upon the bed.

Verse 24: And the woman, now she's going to do something. To this woman, it says here there was a fattened calf at her home and she hurried and she did something. She sacrificed. Now this is very informative. Many Bibles will not translate it accurately. They'll say she killed, but it's more than that. This is a very important word. It's the same root where we get the word for altar, *mizbe’ach*. So it says here literally, and she sacrificed it and she took wheat or flour and she kneaded and she baked matzot, unleavened bread. Now I would say this, all of this is her attempt, being a woman of no faith, but nevertheless her attempt to do something, to try to appease God. She took this fattened calf. What did she do? The scripture says that she sacrificed it. And then she did something. Everything in the Bible is written for a purpose. And notice what it says, that she took flour, she kneaded it and she baked. What did she bake? Unleavened bread.

And what did she do? Look at verse 25 our last verse, and it says: And she presented it before Saul and before his servants and they ate. They got up and they went, and notice, they went that night. Now this is important because we see this word "night" for a reason. They didn't do something in the brightness of the morning. When we look at the scripture, so many times when we see the word "morning" it is to emphasize a transparency. But when "night" is used, it's to show something that someone wants to conceal. And therefore everything about this event, we find that Saul and his servants are wanting not to make public. Why? Well, this is all to teach us something. They knew that what they were doing was displeasing to God. They knew what they were doing was not going to bring about a good outcome.

What are they going to expect? Well, they know from what Samuel has said. And again, whether this is literally Samuel or a demonic manifestation, we see something. God can use all things for His purpose. And therefore what do we see? We see that judgment was told to Saul, not only for himself but also for his sons and also for the camp, meaning the armies of Israel. They are going to experience what? The judgment of God.

Why? Well, because what Saul is doing and what his servants brought about. Remember, he spoke to them and he wanted a sorceress. He wanted this woman to be a medium in order that she would bring up from the dead this one that he wanted to talk to, Samuel. And why did he want to talk to Samuel? Very simply because he knew something. He knew that the Lord had departed from him. And as Samuel said, just as Samuel had prophesied and revealed that God was going to tear away the kingdom from him and give it to someone who is his neighbor, meaning a trusted ally. Someone, and it's so important this word that is used to describe David, he is a confidant, he is a loyal friend. He is someone that Saul should have trusted, but he did not.

What did he want to do over and over and over? He wanted to put David to death. David, who has become his son-in-law, and now he's wanting to put David to death. Why? All of this shows us thoroughly how far removed that Saul had become from the will of God. He wasn't interested, was not committed to anything that had to do with God's purposes, God's plans, God's priorities or simply stated, the will of God. He was totally committed to what he want. And what did he want? He wanted one thing, to remain as king. He was seeking this glory, he was seeking this status, he was seeking the wealth and the pride that he loved so much in being king.

But notice something. We're going to find just as Samuel said, very soon not only are the sons of Saul going to die, but he is as well. And not only that, because Israel is being led by an unrighteous king, an ungodly king, someone who is uninterested in the things of God, what's going to happen? Very simply, Israel is also going to suffer. That God in His righteous judgment, He is going to turn Israel over into the hand, meaning the authority of the enemy. And the Philistines are wicked. The Philistines, they don't know the God of Israel. They're not committed to the Word of God. What do they want? They want, just like Saul, to satisfy their desires, to accomplish what they want to do.

And hear this very carefully. When it's all about what I want, understand, when it's about what I want, it is not going to end well for me. We need to be individuals that are committed to God's purposes, God's plans, God's will. And it's only when we are wise enough to agree with God, then and only then are we going to find the Spirit's leadership in our life. God will indeed speak to us. God will answer us. God will move in our circumstances. He will move in our life in order that we don't experience exceedingly trouble, and that word trouble can also mean tribulation. That is not what God wants for His people.

He wants us to experience and what's that word? Salvation. And how should we think of salvation? It is connected to victory. That's what God wants us to have. But when we consult that which is evil, when we turn to the occult and deals with sorceress and mediums, what's going to happen? Very simple. We are going to experience God's judgment. This is what's going to happen to the children of Israel. And therefore we need to be humble. We need to be submissive. We need to be obedient. Not because our obedience is a means of salvation, but rather our obedience testifies to faith. And that's what God is looking for. That's what God wants us to demonstrate, that we have faith and primarily, faith in His Word. Because if we trust in His Word, we are also going to trust in Him. So let's be faithful. Let's be wise. Let's be obedient and let's demonstrate that we are understanding that we are under the authority of God.

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. 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. Shalom from Israel.