Love Israel

Guest (Male): Shalom and welcome to Viahavta 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: It is very significant that the book of 1 Samuel ends with the death of Shaul, the king of Israel, and his sons. Not only this, we also see in this last chapter that the nation of Israel was thoroughly defeated by the Philistines. What is the message? Very simply, when we achieve what we want to achieve, it leads to failure. It is only when we submit to God's will, when we recognize His purposes, and when we are committed to His priorities, then and only then can we expect victory.

Through that victory, there will also be a restoration of what the enemy has taken from the people of God. But when we are under the leadership of an ungodly man, one who is not interested in God's will, and one who is not interested in the Word of God, expect failure. Expect shame and expect defeat.

Take out your Bible and look with me to 1 Samuel and chapter 31. Again, the main thing that is being taught here is indeed the failure that came from ungodly leadership, that is, from Shaul. Look, if you would, to verse one where it says: "And the Philistines were fighting against Israel. And the men of Israel, they fled before the Philistines."

Not only did they flee, but notice something else. We have a very important word. It is the same word that relates to something that is empty. For example, we use that when we talk about outer space in modern Hebrew. It speaks of something that is not contained. When we look at this word, it is the word *chalalim*, which means someone who is dead. Their soul has departed from them. This is how Israel is being described in their defeat by means of the Philistines. It says here: "And there fell the dead bodies where? At Mount Gilboa."

Gilboa is a significant place. It is at a unique location. We see that Mount Gilboa is not very far from the Jezreel Valley. When we go back to the time of the judges, there was a judge by the name of Gideon. It was in that same location that Gideon brought about victory for the children of Israel. Why? Gideon was not a perfect man—none of us are—but he was someone who relied upon God, someone who trusted in the truth of God, and someone who listened to God and implemented the truth of God into his life. When we do that, things are very different for the people of God.

Let's press on to verse two. I want to translate this very literally because we have a word here which means "and the Philistines clung to Shaul and his sons," meaning they were pursuing after them. They did not want any separation between the leadership of Israel—Shaul and his sons—and themselves. What did the Philistines do? Keep reading in the middle of verse two where it says: "And the Philistines struck Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Shaul." This word for "striking" is usually in the Scripture a word that relates to striking dead. It is a word for a blow, a serious blow that normally leads to death as in the context here.

Look now to verse three. In verse three, the focus is no longer on Shaul nor his sons because they have died. Notice what it says: "And the war," and then we have a very important term. It means "to become heavy." In other words, the battle became very, very intense. We see here against Shaul, it says that the archers, they found him. These men of a bow, meaning bow and arrows. Notice what it says: "And the archers wounded," and the next word, *me'od*, meaning they wounded him excessively in a very, very strong manner.

Verse four: "And Shaul said to the one who bore his vessels." I realize that many Bibles will say armor, but it is not the word referring to simply armor; that would be a different Hebrew word. It simply means the one who bore his vessels. What did he ask? He says, "You take out your sword and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised ones come and they thrust me through and also abuse me." Notice what it says: "The one who bore his vessels did not want because he was very afraid." Therefore, notice what Saul did at the end of verse four: "And Saul took the sword and he fell upon it."

In the end, what happened? Saul knew that it wasn't going to end well. Therefore, he committed suicide. He fell upon his own sword. Some would say, and I wouldn't disagree with this, that even though it is committing suicide, it is doing so in an honorable way. I need to be very careful. Suicide is never honorable. But when one would fall upon his sword, that was a way of saying that he wanted to end his life in an honorable way so the enemy would not have any victory. The enemy would not have an opportunity to do what Saul was concerned about—abuse him, shame him, and torture him.

Let's move on to verse five. "And the one who bore his vessels feared because Shaul had died." What did this one do? It says: "And also he fell upon his sword and he died with him," meaning he died with Shaul. Verse six: "Shaul died, and his three sons, and the one who bore his vessels also all his men on that day together."

It is being emphasized "all his men." Whose men? We are talking about those who were loyal to Shaul. All of his men. What is the message? Remember, I said it was very important that we see that 1 Samuel concluded with the death of Shaul as king, his three sons, and all those who were with them—all those who were loyal to him. They simply supported an ungodly leader. Now we see God's vengeance upon Shaul, his sons, and all those who were loyal to Shaul. Why? They had chosen poorly. They had made an unwise decision because they were loyal to Shaul rather than being anointed to the true anointed one of Israel. And who am I speaking about? David.

Look, if you would, to verse seven: "And the men of Israel saw those who were on the other side of the valley and those who were on the other side of the Jordan, that the men of Israel had fled." For Shaul and his sons, they were dead. What did they do? It says here that "they left the cities and they fled and the Philistines came and they dwelt in them."

With this defeat, what happened? The men of Israel seeing what had happened—this defeat of the armies of Israel—left the land that God had given to the children of Israel, that they had inherited in the days of Joshua. They had abandoned that. The Word of God tells us that the Philistines came in and were dwelling in that land. It was almost a reversal of when the Canaanites were there. God brought them out and executed these people from being in the land. Now the Philistines were there. Over and over, what is being said is this great defeat that the children of Israel had suffered. They were no longer inhabiting the land; they fled in fear.

Here is the message: they were fearing man, meaning the Philistines, rather than fearing God. When we fear God, we can expect that God will move in our circumstances and that God will act on our behalf. But God must be the priority of our life.

Let's move on to verse eight: "And it came about on the next day that the Philistines came." What did they do? It says here that they stripped the dead bodies and they found Shaul and his three sons who are falling on Mount Gilboa. When we translate it, most Bibles will put it in the past because we've already been told that they're dead. They have fallen. But when we look at it in the original language, it is in the present tense.

Why is that important? When we come across the present tense in Biblical Hebrew—some people will call this a participle, which is the same structure—it is always used to emphasize something. What's being emphasized here is that Shaul and his sons are falling, meaning that they were put to death at this location.

Look at verse nine: "And what did they do? The Philistines?" It says, "and they cut off his head and they stripped off his vessels," meaning they took various things that were with him. "And they sent it throughout the land of the Philistines all about." Why? "To proclaim in their house of their idols and with their people." They wanted to use this shameful defeat of the children of Israel in order to worship and to proclaim victory within the context of idolatry.

The children of Israel failed miserably because they did not trust in God. They did not trust in the selection of God—God's man to be king—but they were making decisions based on how they saw them, what was right, and what was expedient in their own eyes. Be assured of something: whenever you make decisions based upon what seems best for you, you will always be deceived. You will always make foolish decisions that are going to bring about shame and disgrace. We're going to see that those who are idol worshippers are going to have a victory rather than the people of God.

Look to verse 10: "And they put his vessel in the house of Ashtoreth." That is a pagan location having to do with idolatry. "And his body they hung upon the wall of Beth-shan." Beth-shan was a very significant city in the upper Galilee, very close to the Jordan River Valley Road that connects the north of Israel to the Jerusalem area. Many times in the Gospels, when Messiah and His disciples would travel, they would travel that Jordan River Valley Road to go from the Galilee to Jerusalem. Beth-shan is very close to the Jezreel Valley.

I want to talk a little bit about that term in Hebrew, Yizra'el, or Jezreel. It is an important term. Every place and every name, whether it's a person, a location, or a city, always has a message in Hebrew. The term Yizra'el means basically "he will plant" or "he will place a seed." Why is that important? God promises to do something. We are seeing prophecy being fulfilled today that points to the end times. We are moving closer to it. God is doing something as He has promised. This word "to plant" has to do with God planting once again the Jewish people back in the land.

That is a necessary requirement in order that we move forward into a kingdom experience. In the same way that the children of Israel had to be in the land for Messiah to come the first time, there's also a necessity for the Jewish people to be back in the land so that Messiah can come a second time. What is He going to do? He is going to restore what the enemy has done. Here, the children of Israel were fearful, defeated, and they chose unwisely. They put their hope in a pagan man, Shaul. Why do I say he was pagan? A few weeks ago, he went to a medium in order to conjure up the spirit of Samuel. This is not something that a man of God would do. Shaul is a disgraceful individual. He did not walk under the authority of the Word of God.

We need to always make Scripture relevant for us. We need to ask ourselves: am I demonstrating that I am under the authority of God? How do I do that? You do it by demonstrating your commitment and your passion for the Word of God. It is when you demonstrate a reverence for the Word of God that you are recognizing the authority of God over you. That's what we're called to do.

Let's move on to verse 11: "And the residents of Jabesh Gilead, they heard concerning him." Meaning they heard concerning the death of Shaul and his sons. It says that these men of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Shaul. What did they do? Notice this: "All the valiant men, that is men with faith, they got up and they went all night." This shows an urgency. It shows that they were not at peace at what had happened. They went to respond to what they'd heard concerning the death of Shaul and his three sons, and the defeat of the children of Israel.

Look at verse 12: "And all the valiant men got up and they went all night." A sense of urgency. "And they took the body of Shaul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. And they brought them to Jabesh, that is their city. And what did they do? They burned them there." They took their bodies and they burned them there. "And they took the bones, their bones, and buried them underneath a tree." This is a unique type of tree. They did so burying them underneath that tree in Jabesh.

It says something else: "And they fasted for seven days." That says something about their commitment. They were so grieved about Shaul's death, even though he was an ungodly man that was not in God's will. Nevertheless, they respected the position of king. The Word of God is very clear that they fasted for seven days. This fasting is related to prayer, repentance, and humility. It is saying that there's a change that's required. We fast because we want change in our life and in our circumstances.

The men of Jabesh Gilead fasted for seven days because they did not like what was going on. The children of Israel were defeated, shamed, and fled in fear, even though they should be thought of as the armies of the Lord. But under the wrongful leadership of Shaul, the children of Israel experienced shame, defeat, and failure. Instead of remaining in the land, so many of the inhabitants of the cities fled in fear. That allowed the Philistines to come in and settle the land, something that is not according to the will of God.

Before we conclude, I want us to make this a practical passage of Scripture. We need to ask ourselves, "God, what's going on in my life? Am I demonstrating faith? Am I showing others that I'm under Your authority? Are You moving in my circumstances? Or am I also removed from You and these covenantal promises?" Therefore, instead of experiencing victory and instead of overcoming, am I being overcome by the enemy? That's what's happening to many believers today. We are not living a God-pleasing life. We are failing God and the enemy is bringing about shame, defeat, and failure. We see ourselves far away from the people that God wants us to be and from doing the things that God has equipped us to do. God, if we're in His will, will provide everything that we need and everything that is required in order for us to successfully carry out His plans, His purposes, and His priorities. If that's not the reality for you, understand there is a spiritual problem. We're not trusting in God, we're not depending upon Him, and we're not relying upon Him for all things.

The worst thing that can happen to a believer is when we begin to trust our perspective, how we see things, and what we want. We believe that our fleshly desires are the will of God. That means that you have been utterly deceived. Unfortunately, there are many Bible teachers that are popular because they tell the people what they want to hear rather than simply relying upon the Word of God and showing a reverence for Scripture.

Every true Bible teacher is going to demonstrate and convey a reverence for the Word of God. To the degree that we revere the Word of God, this is also going to relate to whether we submit to the authority of God. This is what we're called to do. God's authority is a wonderful authority. Let us not doubt and let us not fear the enemy, but let us have a boldness. Many times in the New Testament, we see that the apostles were bold individuals. They did not let society or governments influence them. They decided that they were going to walk in submissiveness to the truth of God regardless of what was going to happen to them.

I believe that they knew a very important principle: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. If we die and lose this life, that's no problem because we believe in the resurrection of the dead. We also know that to have a God-pleasing, biblical faith, we need to know that God has raised Messiah from the dead so that sin and death has no victory. Who has victory? God has victory. We will share in that victory when we are committed to the things of our Lord.

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.