Love Israel

Guest (Male): Shalom and welcome to Veahavta 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: Because of David's faithfulness to God's plan for his life, what is David experiencing? He is experiencing persecution, and hear this carefully, persecution from the government. This is something that we need to be prepared for as well as believers. Because whenever we walk in obedience, whenever we are committed to faithfulness according to the truth of Scripture, we will suffer. Remember what Messiah said? He says, "They hated me, and they'll hate you. They persecuted me, and they'll persecute you."

So we need to have a right perspective as David demonstrated. Again, this is even going to be more applicable for believers as we approach the last days. Well, with that said, take out your Bible and look with me to 1 Samuel chapter 23, and we're going to begin in verse 14. Now David once more is on the run for his life. Notice what the Scripture says. When we look at this passage, we read, "And David dwelt in the wilderness." This is an important word, this Hebrew phrase *midbar*.

Why? This expression "wilderness" or "desert," depending upon how it's translated in your Bible, has something very significant. Because God brought the children of Israel into the wilderness to trust them, to teach them to trust in Him, to rely upon Him, to depend upon Him. This is a message that we need to learn as well. When we are being persecuted, when we are suffering, understand this will produce faithfulness in the life of the believer. This is what David is teaching us in this passage.

So once more, David dwelt in the wilderness, in the strongholds. What's important is this: when we are dependent upon God, we will find strength from that. When we are trusting in Him—not in ourselves, not in any material provision, but trusting in God—we will find strength from this. Keep reading. "And he dwelt," speaking of David, "he dwelt in the mountain," and that's literally what it says—mountains in the plural, but it's singular in the biblical language—"in the wilderness of Ziph."

Notice what it says: "And Saul sought him all the days." It's in the plural again. So many times translators don't translate accurately. It's not every day, but all the days. What does this teaching us? Why is it important to be exact? Because when we deal with the Scripture as it is written, it's teaching us that this was Saul's consistent behavior. He just didn't do it one day, but he did it all the days. Because Saul was committed to his plan rather than the purposes of God.

Notice what the Scripture says in the verse 14, where it says, "And God did not give him into his hand." What does this speak of? It speaks of the faithfulness of God. God is always faithful when we are trusting in His word, when we are relying upon Him and no one else. God will manifest His provision, His protection, and His presence in our life, and we will find comfort from that. Let's move on to verse 15. "And David saw that Saul had gone out to seek his soul," meaning his life.

"And David is in the wilderness of Ziph," and notice this, "in the woods." David is hiding out in the forest area in this wilderness, this desert place. But here the word desert can also mean a forest, that which has provision. Keep reading, verse 16. We see that Jonathan, Saul's oldest son, is going to act. Notice what it says: "And Jonathan, the son of Saul, rose up and he went to David in this place in the forest or woods. And what did he do? He strengthened his hand," meaning the hand of David, "in God."

Isn't that a wonderful thing? We see that Jonathan, who had already made one covenant with David in loyalty, we find that this one is going to him in this time of need, in this time of fear, in this time of persecution. What is he going to do? To strengthen David in God. Next verse, verse 17. And he said to him, "Do not fear, because the hand of my father, Saul, will not find you. And you will reign over Israel." Many Bibles say "you will be king," but in the original language, it's a verb: "you will reign over Israel."

"And I, I will be with you." It literally is *mishne*, which is "next to you" or "number two." What Jonathan is saying is this: he's teaching David, sharing with him, "I'm going to support you. I'm going to be with you. I'm going to be your right-hand man." Then look at how the verse concludes, "And also Saul my father knows thus." He knows what God has said. This is what Saul, his father, is doing. He is working against God, working against God's plan. He doesn't like what God likes.

He's not wanting what God has determined will be, and therefore he is rebellious. This is what Jonathan is saying to David, his friend. Look now to verse 18. "And the two of them cut a covenant before the Lord." It says, "And David dwelt in the wood," meaning in that forest, "but Jonathan went to his house." After he completed that purpose of strengthening David and pledging loyalty to David, Jonathan went to his house. Look now to verse 19.

"And the Ziphites," that is the residents of this area known as Ziph, "they went up to Saul at Gibeah saying, 'Surely David is hiding with us in the strongholds in the forest, in the mountain or hill of Hachilah, which is...'" many Bibles will say "to the south," but it's literally "to the right of this place Jeshimon." Verse 20: "And now for all the desire of your soul," and it's speaking about the soul of King Saul, "Go down, go down, and for us," it says, "he will deliver," meaning these Ziphites will deliver him into the hand of the king.

We see that Ziphites are not loyal to God, but they're only thinking in the short term for this world where they want to make friendship with King Saul. This is what the Scripture is revealing to us. They're willing, it says, to deliver him into the hand of the king. Verse 21. Notice how Saul responded. Saul said, "Blessed are you of the Lord." Now is that true? Rebelling against God's will will bless you? Absolutely not. These men are not blessed. Saul is stating it, but he is not speaking truth.

We need to always remember, if we want to be blessed, we find blessing in the will of God. Doing the will of God is the blessing. Saul didn't speak the truth. He says, "You are blessed of the Lord, for you have had pity upon me." It's a misplaced pity. It is not pleasing to God. Verse 22. "Go please and prepare even more so, and know and see his place which is a hiding place for him. Whoever shall see him there, for he shall say to me, because this one," meaning David, "is a crafty one."

What it speaks of here is a person who is very wise in deceiving someone else. That's how Saul feels about David. He is attributing to David the same verb that is used to describe Satan. This is not accurate. Saul is not speaking the truth, and he never does. He never is someone who sees things from God's perspective. He's in bondage with what he wants, how he perceives things, and everything that he's going to do is based upon what he wants rather than the will of God.

Verse 23. It says, "And see and know from the hiding places where he will hide there and return to me in correctness," meaning that I would know. "And I will go with you, and it shall be that if he's in that land, that I will seek him with the thousands of Judah." This is an expression to show how committed Saul is in this one objective: to put the one that God anointed as king to death. Saul is saying, "I'm going to pursue him. I'm going to hunt him down, and I will put him to death."

Verse 24. "And they rose up and they went," the Ziphites, "before Saul. And David and his men were in a different place. They were in the wilderness of Maon." They had been in the wilderness of Ziph, but now they moved to the wilderness of Maon. It says here, "In the desert plains which were to the right of Jeshimon." David is again on the move. He's not just remaining in one place, but Saul has information on where he is. Look now to verse 25.

"And Saul and his men were seeking. And it was told to David, and he went down to the rock." This is an important word. It is the Hebrew word *Sela*. This is the same word that is used in the Old Testament to speak about the rock that followed the children of Israel. We know from the Apostle Paul that that rock is Messiah. This is an important clue. This rock was related to Messiah, but we see that it's connected to David, the son of David, referring to Messiah.

Look again at the text. He went down to the rock, and he dwelt in the wilderness of Maon. Saul heard where David was. "And he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon." Verse 26. "And Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain." Again, what the Scripture's doing is showing us the providence of God. In Hebrew, it's called *hashgacha pratit*, which means the personal supervision.

When you enter into the New Covenant, you can be assured that God is going to watch over you. He is going to supervise your life. If you're walking in the spirit, He will counsel you. He will give you information. He will lead you and direct your ways in order that you can carry out His purposes. Ask yourself a question: is that what you're committed to? The will of God, the purposes of God? If you are a disciple of Messiah, you are going to be someone who is indeed committed to God's plan.

It's just natural for us. We become that new creation in Messiah. That new work through the Holy Spirit changes us, conforms us into being a servant of God through our faith in Messiah. Verse 26 says, "And Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side. And it came about that David," we see here, it's interesting because this word means "haste," but it's in a unique construction. It's in a passive voice.

It means that David was made to be hasty, meaning that he moved very quickly, not in the natural, but in the supernatural. What this Scripture's telling us in this verse is that David was moved by God to go fast. This is showing how God is active in this situation. He's helping David and empowering David, supplying what David needs in order to not be caught by Saul. David was moved with haste to go from before Saul.

It simply shows us a very important principle. When you are not committed to God's will, but you are committed to your plans, your desires, your wants, what you think is best for you, you are going to experience frustration. When you want to do what you want, God is not going to give you peace. You will not know contentment, and you will not know success. When you are in bondage to your will, realize you will never be successful. You will never be able to achieve what you want to do.

God is against that because He has a better plan for your life. It's only when we are humble enough and wise enough to take out our wants and desires and replace them with God's desire. The Scripture says that He will give to you, and that word "give" means "to place." He will place into you, into your heart, the desires. It doesn't mean that He's going to give us what we want. It means that He's going to change our heart and He's going to give us His desires into our heart.

That's where wisdom is. That is the foundation for experiencing success, both spiritual success and a degree of earthly success. When you are doing God's will, be assured you are going to be blessed by Him. All of these things are working in David's life in order to bring David into God's purposes for his life. "And it came about that David, he was caused to move quickly to go from before Saul." Saul was not able to grasp him, to seize him.

"And Saul and his men," we have a very interesting phrase, "they were surrounding David." They were so close, but so far away. They were surrounding, they were in the general area, but they were not able to complete what Saul wanted them to do because it was not God's will. If you want to know frustration, disappointment, grief, and sorrow, choose your will. But if you're wise and humble and have that spirit of submissiveness in your heart, something very different is going to happen.

You are going to be moved by God into His will so that you can accomplish those things that are pleasing to Him. Here again, we need to pause and ask ourselves a very important question: Do you really want to accomplish God's will? Are you committed to His plans? Are you truly a servant of the living God, the God of Israel? David was, and those who worship and trust and believe in the son of David—Messiah Yeshua, Jesus of Nazareth.

Those who truly are His disciples, they will want that same truth to be governing their life. Look if you would at the end. It says, "And they were surrounding David and his men in order to seize them, to capture them," but they were never able to do so. Look at verse 27. Now again, we see numerous examples of the providence of God. God moved in this situation. When we are believers in Messiah and we are committed to God's will, we can expect that God is going to move in our circumstances.

He will not leave us alone. He will not forsake us. He is not going to be careless with us, but He loves us, and He wants the very best. But His best is found in His will, not in our will. Verse 27: "And an angel came to Saul." An angel, this can also be a messenger, probably better translated that way. "And a messenger came to Saul saying, 'Quickly come, because the Philistines have invaded the land.'" The Philistines have invaded the land of Israel.

It's going to bring about a change. Saul and his men were obsessed with seizing, capturing David. That's what was most important to Saul. But Saul is not going to accomplish this. It's not God's will. I cannot overstate how important it is for you to take out your plans and have them replaced with the plans, the purposes, the will of God. When you do that, you will have discernment. You will see things differently. You will have access to God's provision.

You will have His power upon you, anointing you, and you will do those things that are in agreement with the will of God. When you are serving God and walking with Him, you will know the blessings of God. You will have access to the promises of God, and you will experience the presence of God in your life. All of that is a source of joy for you. When you know that you are in His will, doing His will, and experiencing His favor in your life.

Let's look at our last verse, verse 28. Let me just simply say, in most Bibles, there's an additional verse, verse 29. But in the Hebrew, this chapter's going to end with this. Where it says, "And Saul returned from pursuing after David." He had to. There was no other choice. And he went to meet the Philistines. Therefore they called that place where David found deliverance and where Saul was frustrated and could not accomplish his plans "The Slippery Rock."

If you don't translate things properly, you get "The Rock of Escape." But it's this word *Sela*, which is "rock," and the word for "slippery." What is that speaking about? When you are not committed to God's plans, the things that you want so desperately, they are going to slip through your hands. You'll never be able to obtain them because God won't allow you to. Because He has a better plan for your life. He wants to bless you.

He knows everything, and He knows what is best for you. If you're foolish, go your way. If you're wise and humble and have a submissive spirit, then you're going to behave very differently. You are going to follow after God's will. You are going to be committed to His plans and His purposes. When you're in His will, you can expect fellowship, intimacy with the Lord God Almighty. What a wonderful objective it is to be in God's will, doing His purposes and experiencing fellowship with Him. Shalom.

Guest (Male): Well, we hope you'll 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 our work in Israel, 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 of Nazareth, as you walk with Him. Shalom from Israel.