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 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: A common question that people will ask in regard to King David is this. Saul was such a thorn in his side. Was David truly sincere when he lamented for Saul? And the answer to that question is absolutely. And there's going to be evidence to confirm that in today's lesson. So, with that said, take out your Bible and look with me to the book of 2 Samuel and now chapter 2. The book of 2 Samuel and chapter 2. Now, we're going to see that there's a group of people that did a very kind act to Saul.

What did they do? They gave him a proper burial. And this is a very important thing to do within Judaism. We want to show respect for those who have died. We want to treat them with honor, even if sometimes those individuals are not very honorable. Meaning this. It's exactly what Yeshua taught. And what was that? When he said, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, rather than simply doing things because you're angry, that you're hurt, that you are upset. Don't let the emotions that you have dictate your actions, but rather be led by the Holy Spirit.

So, with that said, look with me to verse 1 again. 2 Samuel chapter 2 and verse 1 where we read, and it came about afterwards, David inquired of the Lord. Now, literally, that word for inquiring, most Bibles translate it that way, but it's simply the word for asking. It is a request from God made by David in order that God would guide him. And what is he thinking about? Well, just keep reading. Look again at verse 1. And it came about afterwards that David asked the Lord saying, shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah?

So, David is asking, is it your will, oh Lord, for me to go up into Judah? Now, why is Judah being mentioned? Very simply, when we talk about the place where the name of God dwells and the presence of God is there, where are we talking about? Obviously, the answer is simple. Jerusalem. And Jerusalem was the capital of that southern empire known as Judah. Well, keep reading. Notice what it says. Shall I go up to one of the cities of Judah? And we find that the Lord spoke unto him, meaning he returned. And that's what prayer is.

Prayer is a very unique action. When we look at the verb, it is Why is that important? Because it's in the reflexive stem. What does that mean? It means that we send our prayers, our requests, our supplications to God. And therefore, there should be a response from him. So, a very important part of prayer is just not communicating to God, but waiting on the Lord, listening for his response. And let me just share this. It is much more important for you to hear from God than God hears from you because God knows everything. You're never going to tell him something that surprises him that he didn't know.

God is omniscient. He knows all things. So, David is saying, should I go up to one of the cities of Judah? Now, again, there were numerous cities in Judah, but notice the response from God. And the Lord said unto him, go up. Now, notice. David is just not going to go up and be led by his own desires or to do what is right in his own eyes. Notice what David does. Verse verse one at the end. And David said, where shall I go up? So, he wanted God's response. He wanted to be guided by God himself.

And how did the Lord respond? He said to Hebron. Now, let me just point out something. Hebron is a most significant place. Do you know who's buried there? The patriarchs. That means Abraham, his son Isaac, and also Jacob. And who else? The wife of Abraham, Sarah. And we see the the wife of Isaac, Rebecca. And then we also see Leah is buried there. So, these important patriarchs and the matriarchs, not all, we know that Rachel is born in or buried in Beth Lechem or Bethlehem. But we see that Hebron is a very significant place. Now, this also tells us something.

Why? Well, when you look at the word Hebron in Hebrew, it means to join together. And this is what God wanted. God wanted David to be joined together with him. And we are going to see how that comes about in a moment. Let's press on to verse 2 where it says, and David went up there, meaning to Hebron. And also his two wives, Ahinoam, the Jezreelite, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal, the Carmelite. Now, notice something. When I was going over this with my wife, they say they translated it in her Bible as the widow of Nabal.

Doesn't say that. It says the wife of Nabal. And what's being emphasized here is how David took her away from this bad man. Now, I would say this. When we look at God's will, his best, one man, one woman for life. That is what God desires. That is why the scripture says, and the two shall become one flesh. But we see sometimes that things happen and only, and hear this carefully, biblically speaking, and that what should interest us, not our emotion, not our desires for happiness. What should motivate us? The word of God. And the word of God is very clear.

The only biblical reason for divorce is adultery. Therefore, we see here, press on. Look at verse 3. And the men who were with him, meaning the men who were with David went up. David brought up. And not only the men, it says, a man and his household. And notice what it says. Look at the end of verse 3. And they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. Now, here again, Hebron, even today, is a very large city in Judah. And we find that there are numerous cities around Hebron. For example, biblically speaking, we know that there is Kirjath Arba and also Hebron.

Now, today, we really can't separate them to to a great degree. They're side by side. But in the biblical times, I want us to see that there were numerous cities that surrounded Hebron because it had what we would call today suburbs. Well, let's press on. Look if you would to verse verse 4. It says here, and the men of Judah, they came and they anointed there David to be king over the house of Judah. So, notice this. I made mention that the term Hebron comes from a Hebrew verb lechaber which means to join together. And that is exactly what's happening.

We see in Judah in Hebron, that significant city. We see that David was anointed to be the king over Judah. Now, we know that that Judah is a smaller empire, a monarchy. But what's larger? Israel. And we are going to see later on in the next few chapters how all of Israel eventually is going to come together for the purpose of making David king over, and hear this, over all of Israel. Now, when we look at the scriptures, let's move on. Notice what it says in verse 4 once more. The men of Judah, they came.

They anointed him there. That is David to be king over the house of Judah. And it was told to David saying, the men of They're the ones who buried Saul. Now, again, I made mention that David is going to demonstrate his sincerity. He was not just play acting when he lamented for Saul. He recognized something. He recognized as king over Israel. And by the way, in Hebrew, the term king is melech. And frequently, we use the expression king Messiah. It's really impossible to separate this term, the anointed one, from being king. And ultimately, we know and we speak about king Messiah.

This is the biblical truth. What does it say here? Once more, we are told that the men They came and they buried Saul. Read on. Look at verse 5. And David sent messengers to the men of And he said unto them, blessed are you of the Lord. Now, notice that. Blessed are you of the Lord. What is that expression trying to tell us? It's trying to tell us that David understands that these men for doing that gracious act, that kind act of giving a proper burial to Saul and presumably his son Jonathan, what what do we know?

We know that these men are under the influence of God. So, let me ask you a question. What about you? Are you sure that you are under the influence of God? How would you know that? By being led by the spirit of God, by submitting to the guidance and the instruction and the leadership of the Holy Spirit. That's how we can be assured that we are in God's will by following his spirit. Once more, look at this text where it says, and David sent messengers to the men And he said unto them, blessed are you of the Lord because you have done this act of kindness or grace.

Now, the Hebrew word is the word And we find that in the scripture, different Bible translations translate this word in a a great variety of ways. But what the best translation is of this word is grace. We see that grace, and notice what it says in a few minutes, if we keep reading, it says, blessed are you of the Lord because you have done this grace with your Lord. Who's their Lord? Saul. With Saul. And what did they do? That you have buried him. Verse 6. And now, the Lord will do with you notice they emet which means grace and truth.

Now, so many times, and this needs to be emphasized, so many times we see these two words put together. What are these words? Grace and truth. Now, why is that? Why is it so common for grace and truth to go together? Well, very simply, in order to walk in truth, you need to first receive the grace of God. And let's be very clear. The only one that can provide the grace of God is indeed our Lord and Savior Messiah Yeshua, that is Jesus of Nazareth. He is the source of grace. You say how? Very simply, because he was crucified.

And that crucifixion, and more than just that, the shedding of his blood purchased for us, as it says in Hebrews 9:12, purchased for us eternal redemption. And because we are redeemed eternally, we can have assurance. We can know that we are going to be in the kingdom of God. We don't have to doubt. We don't have to wonder. We don't have to think about it. It's all been settled. And I think that's great news. And we will talk more about that in a moment. But look again verse 6. And now, and that word now, in modern Hebrew, we have the word But that word in biblical Hebrew.

We have the word What is that? It means now with a sense of urgency. And what David is saying is this. Because you have acted with grace, you have been led into the truth. And what's going to happen? Well, notice he says verse 6, and now with a sense of urgency, the Lord will do with you and emet, grace and truth. And also I will make you this good thing. So, David is promising to do something. In the same way that God had worked when someone acts graciously, we find that David is promising to also participate as he says also.

And that word in Hebrew can mean even even I will will make with you this goodness. Meaning what? That David wants to participate in this. He doesn't want to be left out. He wants to share in their blessings. Why? Because David understands how wonderful the blessings are of God. So, he says here, also I will make with you this goodness which you have done this thing. Look at verse 7. Again, we see that same word and now with urgency. Let your hands be strong. Now, whenever we see that word for hand, we should think of two things.

We can think of a deed or an action, a work. And then we need to understand something else. This word also speaks of authority. What David is saying is this. I am recognizing God's authority. And I am going to submit to his authority. And doing so is going to lead me, and this is what's important. It is going to lead me into a situation where I will demonstrate grace. That's what we're called to do. We called to receive God's grace, but then demonstrate that grace that we have received in our life. How do we do that?

By serving God, by being kind, by being respectful, by honoring other people, in identifying what is God's will for their life. Pray about that. Seek that. God will respond. Our God is a faithful God. And he will share with you what he wants from that individual so that you can be an encouragement to that person in receiving the provision of God, the power of God, the presence of God, and the perspective of God so you can minister effectively to that individual. Look again at verse 7. And now, your hands will be strengthened. And that you shall be sons of valure because of the death of your Lord Saul.

Meaning because Saul died, you've done this thing that you are going to, as we saw earlier, be blessed. And then also, notice what it's saying here. It says Now, what's It is power. Now, that same word can be used to describe a mighty army. And this is what God is saying. Is when we are led by grace and we submit to the authority of God, what can we expect? We can expect God to be powerful in our life, powerful in our circumstances so that we don't have to deal with things alone, but we have that anointing, that supply, that provision from God.

We look at the end of of verse verse 7. And also me, they have anointed over the house of Judah to be king over them. Now, again, there's a play on words here. Remember what I said about the city called I made mention it means to join. And this is what David wants. David's not seeking his own will, his own desire. He wants to submit to God's purposes for him. And this is wisdom for all of us. Don't make a decision thinking to yourself, apart from God, apart from his word, what is it that I want to do with my life?

That is a formula for failure, for disappointment, for a lack of joy and a lack of happiness. It's only when you say, God, I'm going to seek you. God, whatever you reveal to me, I'm going to do. I'm going to submit and recognize your authority over me. When we do that, my are things going to change in our life. We will have counsel from the Holy Spirit, and he's a wonderful counselor. We will have his provision. We will have his perspective. We will know God's power, and we will be motivated by God's presence so that we can accomplish great and wonderful things.

And what's the purpose of those things? To honor God, to be an individual that when others see us, what do they see? They see an individual that is glorifying God in faithful behavior. Well, let's press on. Look now at verse 8 where it says, and Abner, the son of Ner. Who is he? It says Now, means army. And of course, we're talking about the armies of the Lord. And the term means a captain or a high official. It is a term that speaks about Abner being over the army of Israel. And notice what it says here.

This guy the son of Ner who was to Saul. And what does he say that about Abner? What did he do? Well, he was not of the same mindset of David. David wanted God's will. But what did Abner do? Well, pay very close attention. It says here, and he took the son of and brought him over to the camp, meaning the camp. And this is a term which means the armies where the soldiers would stay. So, he brought him over. For what purpose? Well, we're going to find out in our last verse. Look at verse 9.

And it says here that he was made king over over the Ashurites. That is from the tribe of Asher, from Israel, and from Ephraim and Benjamin, and over Israel. And then we have the word meaning all of it. So, now we have a rivalry going on. What do I mean by that? Well, very simply, we saw how the men of Judah they anointed David king over Judah. Now, why is that important? Well, I've already shared with you. Where is Jerusalem? Not in the northern kingdom, not in what's called Israel, but specifically, Jerusalem is in Judah, the southern kingdom.

So, now we have this rivalry going on between David who is at This this term which means to be joined with God. And what have you else? You have the son of Saul which Abner has come and made to rule. Where? In Israel, the northern kingdom over all of it. So, now we have this conflict. We have two kings when biblically there should only be one king. And who is the one that's truly anointed? Well, remember we see that it was Samuel who was the one who anointed David. And if you do a good study, we've talked about this before, if you do a good study of Samuel, you're not going to find negative things written about him in the scripture.

He was a man that was was faithful to God, committed to the truth of God. So, look again at verse 9 where it says, and he caused him to rule over Judah over Asher, meaning the tribe of Asher, over Israel and over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over Israel all of it. So, what we're seeing is this this rivalry between these two men. Now, one is truly king. And who is that? David. The other one has been made to be king because of his father. And we know something. His father was not a righteous king. His father was not someone who was interested in the things of God.

We know that Saul rejected the word of God. He was not interested in walking in truth. And what else did not Saul have? He did not have access to the grace of God because he wasn't interested in the truth of God, in the will of God, or the purpose of God. So, let me ask you a question. What about you? Does the truth of God interest you? Are you someone that bases your life not on the thoughts of the world, what's popular, what is that that that trending right now? Or do you say, I'm interested in truth.

I want to walk in the will of God. I want to carry out the purposes of God. I want to be committed to the priorities of God. And when you are, understand this. Things are going to change drastically in your life. Now, for some, that is going to bring about suffering, persecution, hardship, sometimes confusion. And you're going to be often times having the feeling of being left alone, isolated. But don't let that bring you despair. Why? Because God is going to be working in your life. Understand something very very important. When we go through a trial, when we go through some hardship, when we are suffering, when we are a recipient of persecution, understand, we don't go through this by ourselves.

The Lord has promised something. He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us. And also, there's another wonderful promise. And that is to not let us be tested beyond what we're able to bear. God knows us intimately. He knows everything about us. He knows what we can can endure, what we can persevere through. And therefore, he's going to put limitations on that. And understand this. Whenever you go through a time of trouble and hardship and persecution and you're feeling discouraged, understand that that there's a change coming. What type of change? A marvelous change because God is working in your life for a purpose.

Now, when we look at trials and tribulation and the scripture that I just share with you real quick, Romans chapter 5, the first five verses, talks about a process that we go through. And that process has a purpose. There's a word most Bibles will translate it as character, but if you look carefully, it is the word where we get in English document. God lets us go through these difficult times so that we'll have an ability to document our faith. That's what we want to do. We want to show people that we truly are believers and followers and we have been joined together eternally with 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. 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 it. Shalom from Israel.