Love Israel

Guest (Male): 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 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: The Bible makes it very clear, no one is righteous, no, not one. Now, of course, there is one exception to this, and of course, I'm speaking about our Lord and Savior, Messiah Yeshua, that is Jesus of Nazareth. Even though the Bible says he was tempted in all ways, he never succumbed to that temptation. He never committed a sin. So, he is indeed righteous. Furthermore, the Bible says, we all have fallen short of the glory of God. This is true. But again, the only exception is indeed our Lord and Savior, Messiah Jesus. Well, with that said, take out your Bible and look with me to the book of 2 Samuel and chapter 3.

The book of 2 Samuel and chapter 3. Now, we're going to be dealing with an individual and his name was Avner. And Avner was a good military leader, but he had a problem. And what is that problem? He had pride. Now, many people struggle with pride, but realize something. If you want to be used by God to your fullest potential, you must approach God humbly. And a great example of that and someone who God used mightily was Moses. And what does the Bible say? The Bible tells us that Moses was the most humble individual. And that's what we should strive for to be a humble person because those who humble themselves before God, God will exalt.

God will use. God will bless. God will provide. So, always we see great blessings that come from humility. Now, why do I say that Avner was a prideful man? Well, that's exactly what we're going to focus in on today. He did not like to be corrected. And again, we all fall short of the glory of God. At times, we all need to be corrected. And we need to receive that correction with humility, in truth, and understanding that when we are convicted of sin, the purpose of that is to grow us, to mature us. So, let's begin.

As I said, take out your Bible, look with me to 2 Samuel. And this time, chapter 3 where it says here, And the war was very long between the house of Saul and between the house of David. But notice something. Even though there was a long war, we begin to see God's selection of David. Why do I say that? And David goes and is strengthened. But in contrast to that, the house of Saul goes and becomes And this word, many will say poor, but it's a word meager. It's a word which means to lack in a very significant way.

So, what we see is that David, over this war, he was strengthened. But we see the exact opposite for the house of Saul under the leadership of the son of Saul. And of course, I'm speaking about Ish-bosheth. Look now, if we could to verse 2 or verse 2 where it says, And there was born to David sons in Hebron. And it came about, his firstborn was a man by the name of Amnon. And he was born of Ahinoam, the Israelite. Now, that is from Jezreel. We want to get that correct. It says, look now to verse 3.

And his second was a man by the name of Kilab. And he was born by Abigail, the wife of Nabal. Now, I know that many Bibles will say widow. It is true, Nabal is dead, but it's not the word for widow. It's a different word. It means the wife of. So, the wife of Nabal, the Carmelite. And it says in the middle of verse 3, And the third, meaning his third son, was Absalom, the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, the king of Geshur. Verse 4. And the fourth was Adonijah, the son of Haggith.

And the fifth was a man by the name of Shephatiah, the son of Abital. And the sixth was a man by the name of Ithream of Eglah, the wife of David. These were born to David in Hebron. Now, what is the purpose of this? What is the scripture trying to teach us? Very simply, when there are children born, this is a a statement of God's blessing. So, this confirms what we just were told. And what is that? Yes, this war was long, but in the midst of this long war, what was happening? David was growing stronger.

And what was happening to Ish-bosheth and his kingdom? It was becoming lacking. It was becoming insufficient. It was a meager kingdom compared to David. And all of this is to confirm one thing to the reader, and that is this, that God had his hand upon David, that it was David who was the rightful king, not Ish-bosheth because as we talked about, God promised to do something, and that was to rip the kingdom away from Saul. And that would mean as well the descendants of Saul. There was going to be a fresh start in this kingdom.

This is what we're seeing. Let's press on. Look if we could to verse 6. And it came about when the war was between the house of Saul and between the house of David. Notice what it says. And Avner was strengthening the house of Saul. Now, what was he? Well, we see that David was being blessed by God, but we see that the real influence in this kingdom in the north in what's called Israel, that northern kingdom, it was Avner. He was strengthening the house of Saul. And anything that was going on in a positive way for that kingdom, it was because of Avner's leadership.

Now, remember that because this is going to become very important in a moment. And again, I want to pause and remind us as the scripture says, we all have fallen short of the glory of God. No one is righteous, no, not one. And what do we learn? Well, because we all fall short of the glory of God and none of us are perfectly righteous. What does that mean? It means a time that we fail God. We do things that we ought not do. And when that is exposed, when we are confronted with that, we need to be like David and quickly acknowledge that.

Acknowledge that we are wrong. Don't try to justify yourself. Don't try to make excuses for your behavior, but own up to it immediately. That is what a true believer will want to do. So, look again, verse 6. And it came about when the war between the house of Saul and between the house of David and it says and Avner, he was strengthening the house of Saul. And notice what it says, verse 7. We're seeing that someone is going to be mentioned. And who is that? Look at verse 7. And to Saul, there was And this is a concubine.

Now, we need to understand what a concubine is biblically because we hear that and we think sometimes that this is a woman that whoever concubine that that she is, he can do whatever he wants. This is false. When we do a good study of this word, what we find is this, that concubines were not uh simply women that were ruled over by whoever owned them. This is not the case. And we're going to see a good example of this. What is a concu- concubine? That is a woman, oftentimes a very young woman whose family cannot support her, cannot take care of her.

So, what happens? In order to manifest the king's wealth, what does he do? He brings her into his house, not for any immorality whatsoever. We're going to see as I said an example of why that is very wrong. And what does he do? He supports her. So, for example, when we see and a good example is indeed King Solomon, he had many wives and many concubines. Why? He was extremely wealthy. And therefore, he was using his wealth to take care of younger women until they were married. So, this is what we see taking place here.

And let me just confirm that. Look if you would again to verse 7, it says, And to Saul, there was a concubine. And her name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And it was said to Avner, why have you entered into the concubine of my father? Now, again, what is that telling us? This was something that was not done. It was seen as a great sin to exploit these women, to humble these women, to treat these women as simply an object of a man's desire. This was not done. And we find that Saul didn't do that.

And now, Avner, he is doing that and it's a shameful thing. This is what the scripture is referring to us. Now, let's look at the next verse, verse 8. It says, And there was kindled anger by Avner. And then we have the word which means exceedingly. So, he became exceedingly angry concerning this matter of Ish-bosheth. Now, what does this tell us? It was Ish-bosheth that spoke against Avner, that he asked him, why would you do this? Why did he say that? Because he knew that such an action was immoral. It was not what was done with a concubine.

It was not appropriate. It was against the character of God and the will of God. And therefore, Ish-bosheth And we're going to find out later on that he was a a weak man, but nevertheless, he did take a stand. And that stand was a righteous stand in exploiting the fact that Avner did something that he should not have done. So, again, look at verse 8. And there was anger kindled exceedingly by Avner concerning the words of Ish-bosheth. And he said, this is Avner's response, am I a head of a dog which is to Judah today?

Now, what he is saying is this, why are you disrespecting me? Remember, it was because of Avner that we saw that the house of Saul and the the administration of Ish-bosheth was thriving. It was doing better because of Avner. Now, was it perfect? Far from it. Remember that word when we look at at verse 1 of chapter 3, we have this word Dalim. What is Dalim? Something that is meager, something that is inadequate, something that is insufficient. This describes the kingdom, but nevertheless, we see that Avner had a positive influence on this kingdom. That's what we read earlier on when it says in the scripture that it was because of Avner that the house of Saul was becoming stronger at the end of verse 6.

Now, in verse 8, he says, am I the head of a dog which belongs to Judah today? I have made or I will make kindness with the house of Saul, your father, and to your brothers and to his friends. And it says here, and that you have not been found in the hand of David. Now, what is Avner saying? He's making a threat. He says, I want you to remember something. Up until this time, you have not been found in the hand of David. Now, what is that speaking of? Obviously, if if Ish-bosheth was captured and taken to David, what would David do?

Well, David would probably want to to put an end to his life. Now, we're going to learn something later on in the next few weeks that shows that David practiced what he preached. Remember we talked about this a few weeks ago when when that Amalek came and put to death Saul. Remember what David says? How is it that you were not afraid to put your hand against the Lord's anointed? And David practices what he preaches because he is not going to want to put his hand against the Lord's anointed. And in this case, from the house of Saul, we're talking about Ish-bosheth.

So, David was a man that that behaved in a consistent manner in regard to the things of God. And this should ask ourselves a question, are we doing that? Is there consistency in our life in regard to the things of God? When we look at Avner, he was simply offended and angry and he says, I will make grace with the house of Saul, your father, and to his brothers and to his friends. For you have not found yourself in the hand of David. Now, what he's saying is this, be careful because anytime I want, I can betray you and you'll find your hand yourself in the hand of of King David.

And then it says that you would Most Bibles say charge. It's a word of deposit that you would deposit upon me in iniquity of this woman today. So, he's offended. He's angry that his his character would be called into question. But he did something that was wrong. That is undeniable. Well, look if you would to verse 9. It says, thus God will do to Avner. And thus, he will continue to do for him for just as the Lord has sworn to David, for thus I will do for him. Now, I don't know why, but many Bibles add a word that's not there.

And that is the word not. What it says here is this, Avner is offended and he's threatening Ish-bosheth. He says, be careful. Why? He says, for God will do of Avner and thus will do for him. Who's him? It is David. For just as the Lord has sworn to David, for thus I will do for him. He's saying, watch up because I can betray you. And I can carry out God's will for David because if I bring my support, if I bring my favor, if I bring my military expertise to David, he's going to receive that and you will be defeated quickly.

So, we see here a clear threat against Ish-bosheth. Look now to verse verse 10. To transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish Notice this. the throne of David over Israel and over Judah. From Dan, which is way up in the north on the Lebanese border, unto Beersheba, which is in the south. So, Avner is not foolish. He understands what's going on here and he's threatening Ish-bosheth saying, watch out. Don't you accuse me of this iniquity. Don't treat me like I'm the head of a dog in in Judah. Why? Because if you do, I can change things rapidly against you.

And you will not survive. This is the threat that that Avner is making against Ish-bosheth. Why? Because he's not thinking about what is right. He's thinking about what is in his best interest. And he doesn't want a weak man who is king and king because of him to to speak in an unkind and a dispec- dispec- disrespectful way unto him. This is at the heart of the matter. Well, let's look at one more verse and then we'll be done, verse 11. And he is not able any longer because of what Avner said to Ish-bosheth. It it made a powerful statement among all the people in that kingdom.

What does it say? Look at verse 11. And he was not able any longer to return against Avner. A word. Why? So, no one could answer him. No one could say anything against him. Why? Well, notice how the scripture ends up because of fear of him. Avner did something. He threatened the very existence of that kingdom, the kingdom of Saul. Now, why was he supporting Ish-bosheth? Not because it was the right thing to do, but it's because he felt it would be in his best interest. Here again, wise up. Don't do things that's in your best interest because they're not.

Do things if you want to be blessed. Do things that are in the best interest concerning the will of God. When you are committed to God's will, you will see how God will move in your circumstances, move in your problems, how God is able to bless, how he will provide, how he will bring changes into your life. And God delights in doing just that. So, let's be very careful. Let's not uh uh choose our will, but let's be wise. Let's be humble. Let's be obedient. Let's be led by grace and let's walk in the anointing of the Holy Spirit that we say yes to God and that we do the things that are pleasing to him because there's a very true principle.

Many people are going to go before the judgment of God. And because they have not accepted that gospel, what does the scripture say? They're going to be cast outside. And literally, if you look at that, that word for outside appears two times to emphasize. Whenever there's a redundancy, it's for the purpose of emphasis. It makes that passage emphatic. So, they're going to be cast outside outside. And what are they going to receive there? They're going to be fearful. They are going to be sorrowful and they are going to be in torment. And here's the shameful thing.

Nothing can change that. They are going to have to live for all of eternity in that situation, being fearful, being sorrowful, and being in torment. But that doesn't have to be your future. You can be wise today and make a decision that will not only please God, but will be an eternal blessing to you. Now, I made mention that uh the term Ben David, the son of David, is a very important term. When we hear that phrase, the son of David, who are we talking about? Well, if you read carefully in the Gospels, we find that one of the ways that Messiah is referred to is as the son of David.

Why? That is a messianic term. So, Ben David, the son of David, when we hear it, what should come into our mind? The Messiah. And that's why so frequently in the Gospels, we see Messiah being referred to as the son of David. Why? Well, God makes a promise. We'll come across this when we get to chapter 7 of 2 Samuel. And God is going to make a covenant promise to David that there will be one of his offsprings that will rule eternally on his throne. And who is that? It is the Messiah. And aren't you glad that we have a righteous king, a holy king, a king that is committed to the purposes of God, the will of God, the priorities of God to rule forever and ever.

And he's going to do so in truth and in righteousness and in justice. And of that kingdom, there will be no end. So, what does that tell me? It tells me that if you have received that gospel message that you are going to have a wonderful future. And how long is your future? It is without end. You have an eternal future. Now, what I like about this is no one can take that away. No one can still or as the scripture says in John chapter 10, no one can pluck your hand out or pluck you from the hand of God the Father.

And not only is God the Father holding on to you, but the scripture also says, so is the son. So, no one is able to pluck us from the hand of the Father or from the hand of the son. What does that mean? It means that we can have full assurance. And that's why it is so necessary that we humble ourselves, we acknowledge something. What is that? We all have fallen short of the glory of God. That is we all have sinned. No one is righteous except Yeshua. Everyone else has failed God. Everyone else has committed a sin or iniquity or transgression.

And what do we find? Well, Messiah. He went to that cross. He shed his blood. Why? To purchase for us redemption and not a a temporal redemption, but rather the scripture says and let me give you the verse, Hebrews 9:12. He's purchased for us eternal redemption. And that gives me comfort. It gives me assurance and it gives me a hope that will not disappoint because now I have in writing in the scripture that that one cannot lose their salvation. Let me close with this. So many people that want to believe that we can lose our salvation, there's a problem.

If you look for example in Hebrews chapter 6, we see something. We see that if someone could use lose their salvation, they could never be brought to repentance, meaning if you could lose it, you're without hope. And what else does the scripture say? Well, if his dying on the cross and shedding his blood was not sufficient to save you eternally, then he's got to do it again. And that's why the scripture says, you open up the Messiah, that Savior, that one who demonstrated perfectly his love for you. You open him up to ridicule or to shame.

Why would anyone want to do that? Let's rest in that fact that we have been saved and as the scripture says, we have been saved eternally. Why? What do we have? We have eternal life. That is such a blessing. It is comforting. It gives us assurance. It is a matter of hope. And when we hope in the promises of God, it changes how we think. It will cause us to persevere, endure because why we persevere is because we are committed to living in a way that will bring to us the promises of God. So, be faithful, don't doubt, trust in the living 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. We download them or watch them in streaming video. Until next week, may the Lord bless you in our Messiah Yeshua. That is Jesus.