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 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: I would like to begin this message by talking about spiritual bondage. Anyone who is still in bondage to sin is not a true believer. There are certain manifestations which reveal to us that a person is not a believer. What are some of those? Well, when someone acknowledges over and over sin in his or her life, this is a sign that this is not a true child of God, meaning they have not been born again. Let's be clear: we all fall short of the glory of God. There is sin in all of our lives.

But if we are in bondage to sin and we still continue to make that same sin over and over and over again, having to confess, "Well, I'm sorry, I was wrong, I shouldn't have done that," what we're going to see is in King Saul's life, he was committed to one thing: himself, and holding on to being king over Israel. Because of this desire, which was not God's will—and we need to understand something—sin is never God's will. Sin is not something that is connected to the plans of God. Sin is always connected to the flesh.

So if someone is in spiritual bondage, they are being ruled over by sin, and this is not the consistent lifestyle of a true believer. So what are we going to do tonight? Well, we are going to look at a passage of scripture from First Samuel, chapter 26. We're going to see beginning in verse 19 how King Saul was not free. He did not know this liberty that comes from the grace of God. I want to say again: every true believer, based upon their faith—faith in what? Faith in that gospel message—is going to be an individual that does indeed walk in freedom.

What does that freedom give us the opportunity to do? That freedom causes us to serve God. That is our new nature. Remember what Paul says: if anyone is in the Messiah, then that person becomes a new creation. The old things or those former things have passed away. Behold, all things are new. This is not what we see in the life of King Saul. Rather we see that he is in bondage to making that same sinful behavior over and over and over again. Let's begin. Look with me, as I said, to First Samuel, chapter 26.

We're ready now for verse 19 which says: "And now please, my lord the king, listen to the words of his servant." Now, who is speaking? Well, it is David. David is speaking to Saul. What does he call him? My lord the king. Then David says later on that he is his servant, meaning that he is the servant of Saul. There's no pride; there's only humility. That's what a true believer demonstrates. Now, David had not come to faith yet in that gospel, obviously. Messiah had not entered into the world.

But there was indeed in the scripture this concept of redemption, new life, and being born again in order to become that new creation. Being that new creation was something we see as well from an Old Testament perspective. It was fulfilled only in the New Testament, but the hint of that, the truth of that, was seen from Old Testament scriptures as well. Let's press on. He says: "Now, my lord the king, he will listen please to the words of his servant." Then he says: "If the Lord has incited you against me..." now, this is one possibility that David is speaking of, that there's something going on spiritually and it is having to do with the Lord inciting Saul against David.

He says if that is the situation, here is the solution: "Let an offering be received." Simply, let's make an offering and bring about a change, a spiritual change through a sacrifice. He says: "But..." and this is the best conclusion. He says: "But if the cursed sons of men..." now, sons of men is simply a Hebrew expression which means human beings. So if the cause of this is not the Lord inciting Saul against David, but rather the cause is cursed human beings that come before the Lord, and what do they do? "For they have cast me this day away from receiving an inheritance of the Lord, saying, 'Go, serve other gods.'"

Now, these cursed men that David is referring to here has to do with those individuals that are connected to idolatry. This is why they are cursed, because they are not true followers of God. They are not submissive to Him. They're not committed to His will. They are very, very similar to Saul in this spiritual bondage. Let's press on to the next verse, verse 20: "And now, do not let fall my blood towards the ground before the face of the Lord. For the king of Israel has gone out to seek one flea." Now, this is an expression in Hebrew where it talks about something that is beneath someone.

What is being said here? When we look at this passage, what David is saying is this: Is it right that you would go out to seek one flea? Now, we look at this very carefully, what is said later on in this same passage of scripture, and it goes on: "...just as he will pursue a partridge among the mountains." Now, what we see here is that this word for a partridge has to do with one that calls out. It is something that is annoying, something that one would go and take care of because he's annoyed by it.

Now, what David is saying is this: I am insignificant in your sight. You are the king. And then secondly, David is saying I am not trying to annoy you. I am not having this ongoing chatter over and over to cause you problems. This is not my heart. This is not what I am about. So David is saying that it is beneath Saul to hunt David down, that David is not the problem. There's something else that is, and we will see that in a moment. Notice the next verse, verse 21, where it says: and who is speaking?

Well, David had been speaking, but now there is a different speaker, and who is that? King Saul. So what does Saul say in verse 21? "And Saul said, 'I have sinned.'" Now, this is not the first time that Saul realizes that his behavior is sinful. He understood that when he was at this location near the Dead Sea and he went into a cave to relieve himself, and there David was. David could have put him to death, but he did not. Why? David was never about being an enemy to Saul.

This was not David's heart, David's purpose, or David's objective. What did he want to do? He wanted to serve King Saul. But we find here that over and over Saul would say: I have sinned. What I am doing is not right. You are not a threat to me. Well, what is going to happen? The same thing over and over. Why is that? Because Saul is in bondage. He is not able to do what is right. Why? Because he's still under the authority of sin.

And everyone who has not been born again, one who has not been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, they will see that sin rules their life. However, if you are truly a believer, then sin is not going to rule your life. What is going to rule your life? As the scripture says, we are going to be led not by the flesh—that's related to sin. Sin rules in the flesh of a human being. But what is going to happen is something very different, and what is that? Well, what is going to happen is the Spirit.

What does the scripture reveal? It says there is no condemnation for those who walk not in the flesh but in the Spirit. And then it goes on—that is Romans, chapter 8 and verse 1—when we go down to verse 4 of that same eighth chapter, it says those who walk not in the flesh but in the Spirit, they fulfill the righteousness of the law. So we see here it is by the Spirit, not by the flesh, not by the natural, but by the Spirit we are led to commitment in the will of God, fulfilling the commandments of God, the instructions of God, the precepts of God.

So let's press on. Look again at verse 21: "And Saul said, 'I have sinned, return, my son David, for I will not do evil to you anymore, in exchange that the preciousness of your soul was before my eyes this day. Behold, I have behaved foolishly and I have erred...'" and then we have an expression, 'harbeh meod'. What does that mean? "...exceedingly much." So Saul is acknowledging something: that he has sinned, that he has behaved foolishly, and that he has made an error. What is that error? Pursuing David, being committed to wanting David to die.

Now, we are going to see something. This is not something that happens once and then is set aside. We're going to see that over and over and over, Saul has one objective and that is to see David put to death. Why? Because this is all revealing to us that Saul is under the authority of sin. He has not been someone who has received the grace of God, the mercy of God, the forgiveness of God. He is still someone where sin is ruling over him.

But notice what he says: "For I will not do evil to you anymore, in exchange that my soul has become precious in your eyes this day." What is he referring to? That David didn't kill him. He says: "Behold, I have behaved foolishly and I have erred exceedingly much." Verse 22: "And David answered and said, 'Behold the spear of the king...'" and notice something else, "The spear of the king, let one of the young men pass over and take it." So David is saying: Well, you will remember that one of the things that I did was to take that spear that was stuck into the ground by your head. He says let one of the men pass over and take it.

Verse 23: "And the Lord will return to the man his righteousness and his faithfulness which the Lord has given you this day in the hand, and I did not want to stretch forth my hand against the anointed of the Lord." So we see something: David is saying very clearly something of great significance. He is saying this: I had the opportunity to put you to death, but I did not want to. Now, it is a very important word. There are several different words in Hebrew that can express a desire.

This is one that is one of the strongest ones. Now, when we take that same word, it can also relate to something that is related to lust, a very, very strong desire. So David is saying here when he says, 'velo aviti', he is saying I did not want in the strongest sense. I did not want to stretch forth my hand against the anointed of the Lord. Verse 24: "Behold, just as your soul was great this day in my eyes..." here again, we are seeing David saying your soul was great to me before my eyes, "...and thus my soul will be great in the eyes of the Lord."

Now, this is so marvelous. Why? Because what we see here is this: David is concerned with whose perspective? When we read this, he is concerned with God's point of view. Not man's, not what King Saul has said, but he is concerned with the Lord. This is so informative to teach us a little bit about how David thought. Look again at this text. He says: "Behold, just as your soul was great this day in my eyes..." David is speaking, "...thus my soul shall be great in the eyes of the Lord, and He will deliver me from all..." and this word is probably best translated, the word 'tsara' is probably the best way to translate it is 'tribulation'.

So what is David saying? He is saying that: God, I trust in You and You will deliver me from all tribulation. Now, that word tribulation can also relate to persecution. In fact, when we look in the New Testament, we find that this word for tribulation more often than not relates to being persecuted for righteousness. And that is something—and I don't want to go off on too big of a tangent—but let me just simply say that if you study what the scripture says concerning believers in the last days, you will learn something.

The last days are going to be very, very difficult for true believers. We are going to be persecuted. We're going to have what is called tribulation, and we need to remember something. If you look, for example, at the book of Acts in chapter 14, I believe verse 22, it says something. It says it is necessary—now, this is a very important word. It means something that must happen. It is something that is related to God's will, God's plans, God's purposes. And he says here, it is necessary in order to enter into the Kingdom of God that we pass through much tribulation.

Now, this concept of much tribulation, it is in the plural. So oftentimes this concept of anything in the plural speaks about abundant tribulation. So what does the scripture say? Well, the scripture tells us something that we should expect, and that is as we approach the last days, we should expect that there is going to be a change in the world. What type of change? Well, what we can expect is this: we can expect more and more that there will be that Antichrist spirit. And that Antichrist spirit hates something.

What does it hate? It hates righteousness. Now, one of the things that the law expresses is righteousness. Now, the law cannot make you righteous; it has no power to transform you. What transforms you? Faith. Faith in the word of God, faith in the promises of God. So the law cannot change you, but the law does indeed reveal to us what is right and what is wrong. And there is something else—and I say this frequently—but when we do a study of this word righteousness, we find in Hebrew poetry what is paralleled to it is glory.

So righteous behavior brings about a manifestation of the glory of God, and this is what God wants from us. He wants us and He has made us into something. Through faith in the gospel, the Bible says we become the righteousness of God. A wonderful promise. And when we behave righteously, what is manifested? The glory of God. That's what we should be concerned with. This should be our utmost desire: to be used by God to glorify Him.

And I have said many, many times, this is why humanity was created. Sin robbed us of that ability, and it is only through redemption that we are restored back to that possibility, whereby through the Spirit of God we can behave righteously and bring glory to God. This is what a true believer desires. This is our new nature. This is how we express and manifest a kingdom mindedness: when we are concerned about glorifying God. And what's going to happen? Well, as we approach the end times, we can expect something.

That the Antichrist... what is one of the ways that the Antichrist is spoken of? He is called the man of lawlessness. Now, if you do a good study of that, you have the word 'nomos' which is the Greek word for law or Torah, and we have something in front of it. We have one letter, the alpha, which is a negation. So we say lawlessness, but what it literally is: he is the man that is against the Torah. Why? Well, you should understand what we're talking about, because the Antichrist is against righteousness.

Why? He hates righteousness because righteousness manifests God's glory, and he doesn't want that. Why? Because he is only interested in his glory. That's the difference. That's the change. Let's go back to our passage. Look again. It says here that He, meaning the Lord, will deliver me from all tribulation. All forms of persecution. Now, that does not mean that I may not die being persecuted for my faith, but that is not the end. Why? We believe in resurrection.

Let's conclude. Look at our last verse, verse 25: "And Saul said to David, 'Blessed are you, my son David.'" Now, notice this. A few minutes ago, what was Saul interested in? Well, remember how this chapter began. David was hiding out where? In the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul went to that location. Why? Pursuing David. Wanting to kill David. That's what the scripture tells us over and over. This is not a one-time situation; it's something that repeats itself over and over and over.

But notice here, verse 25. What a change! As Saul spoke to David, what did he say? He says: "Blessed are you, my son David. Also as you will utterly do..." so he says as you are behaving, what you are going to be doing, "Also you will utterly prevail." Now, I think this is prophetic, because what Saul is saying is this: when we look at this, he says you are going to do and what is that doing going to bring about? It is going to bring about David to prevail, prevail against his enemies.

Who is his enemy right now? It is Saul. And therefore, we are going to see that even Saul understands that David is going to do magnificently. He is going to behave in a wonderful way. What's that wonderful way? In agreement with the things of God. And God is going to work in his life to bring victory to David. And let me just conclude by saying this: God wants to do that same thing in your life as well. God wants to minister to you. He wants to work in your life, provide everything so that you can live a victorious life.

What is living a victorious life? Very simply: living that victorious life means this: that you do not pursue what you want, but you humble yourself and you submit to the instructions of God so that you are an individual that does the will of God. There is nothing better than being in God's will and carrying out His will successfully. And this is what Saul understands. I believe that this is kind of a prophetic statement that Saul's making where he says: "And also you will utterly do, and also you will utterly prevail."

And what happens? Well, notice how the chapter concludes: "And David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place." Now, I would say that there's something very significant about how this verse ends where it says, 've-Shaul shav limekomo'. "And Saul returned to his place." This is to tell the reader that Saul is not going to change. He's going to go right back to his place, meaning behaving as he always did. And what is that? And we're going to see there's no change.

No, although he confesses his actions as sin, he is not going to behave differently. He is going to confirm over and over this desire that he has to put David to death. And what's going to be the conclusion? Well, we've just read it. David is going to do and David is going to prevail, meaning this: just what we saw previously at the end of verse 24 where it says, "the Lord will deliver me from all..." not most, not some, not the easy ones, but it says, "the Lord will deliver me from all tribulation."

This tells us that the enemy is not going to have victory. Who is going to have victory? God. And what is so wonderful about the God of Israel is that He wants to share that victory with His people. God is a generous God. God is a blessed God. And therefore, God is desiring to work in your life and bring you into success, a spiritual success. What is that? Spiritual success is always—hear this—always found in God's will. Being in His will, doing His will, and bringing glory and respect to the Lord God of Israel. There is nothing better than serving Him and doing so in a way that is pleasing to our Savior.

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.