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The solution to Saul's bad precedent, part 19

The day finally arrived when Saul was killed in battle, ending his 40-year reign. The Philistines mustered their army at Aphek and then marched north past Megiddo to meet the Israelite army that had gathered at Jezreel. The Israelites were defeated and fled south to Mount Gilboa, where Saul’s three sons were killed. Saul then committed suicide.

1 Samuel 31:1 says,

¹ Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. ² The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.

The Philistines wounded Saul with an arrow. Knowing that he would soon die, he asked his armor bearer to kill him, but he refused. “So Saul took his sword and fell on it” (1 Samuel 31:4). His armor bearer did the same. 1 Samuel 31:7 says,

⁷ When the men of Israel who were on the other side of the [Jezreel] valley, with those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; then the Philistines came and lived in them.

We see that certain parts of northern Israel were occupied by the Philistines until the time of King David. The Philistines then cut off Saul’s head and sent the Israelite weapons to “the house of their idols and to the people” (1 Samuel 31:9). Saul’s sword was sent as a trophy to the temple of Ashtaroth.

The Bible does not single out which Philistine city worshiped Ashtaroth, but it associates her with the gods of the Philistines in general. Archaeology suggests that Ashkelon (and possibly Ashdod) were leading centers of her worship, though she was likely honored throughout the five main cities of the Philistines.

Saul’s Body Desecrated and Recovered

1 Samuel 31:10 says that the Philistines “fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.” The next verse tells us that they did the same with Saul’s three sons. When the men of Jabesh-gilead heard of this, they marched northwest all night to Beth-shan and recovered their bodies, bringing them home to Jabesh-gilead. 1 Samuel 31:13 concludes,

¹³ They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh and fasted seven days.

We do not know if these men from Jabesh had fought the Philistines with Saul or not. Were they survivors of this battle? Scripture does not tell us. But we know that the city of Jabesh-gilead considered Saul to be a hero, because 40 years earlier, he had delivered the city from the Ammonites (1 Samuel 11:11). This bold act had catapulted Saul to prominence, and it proved to many people that Saul was capable of becoming the king of Israel.

This ends the first book of Samuel. Because Samuel had died earlier (1 Samuel 25:1), we know that someone else wrote the ending of the book as well as the second book of Samuel.

David Hears of Saul’s Death

While Saul was fighting the Philistines in northern Israel, David was fighting the Amalekites far to the south in the Negev. After recovering their wives, children, and supplies, they returned to Ziklag to consider rebuilding their houses. On the third day an Amalekite came from the north with the news of Saul’s death. Apparently, he was unaware that David had just destroyed an Amalekite army and had little sympathy for an Amalekite.

The Amalekite knew about the rift between Saul and David, so he assumed that David would be pleased to hear about Saul’s death. In fact, he reasoned that if he took credit for Saul’s death, he might receive a reward. He then claimed that he happened to be at Mount Gilboa when Saul was wounded. He claimed that Saul asked him to kill him and that he complied with Saul’s wish (2 Samuel 1:9, 10).

The Amalekite produced proof by bringing Saul’s crown and armband. This was the first news that David had received about the battle, so he did not know yet that Saul had put the request to his armor bearer, not to an Amalekite. So David probably assumed his testimony to be accurate.

2 Samuel 1:14-16 says,

¹⁴ Then David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid to stretch out your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” ¹⁵ And David called one of the young men and said, “Go, cut him down.” So he struck him and he died. ¹⁶ David said to him, “Your blood is on your head, for your mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed’.”

David and his men then mourned for Saul (2 Samuel 1:12), and David even composed a lament for Saul and his sons. It was entitled, “The Song of the Bow” (2 Samuel 1:18). It is said to be written in the book of Jashar, but it does not appear in the book of Jasher that was discovered in 1613, printed in 1625, and in English in 1840.

David honored Saul to the best of his ability at all times, because he was the Lord’s anointed king. Such honor was unusual in those days, because the children of the flesh tend to treat rivals and enemies according to a fleshly mindset. The flesh tells them that the only way to secure power is to destroy all enemies. But David was led by the Spirit, and he knew that even though Saul was king only because the people had rejected God’s rule, nonetheless, Saul’s anointing was legitimate (and temporary).

The 40 Jubilees of the Pentecostal Church

I have already shown that Saul’s 40-year reign was a prophetic pattern of the 40 Jubilees of the church, dating from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in 33 A.D. until Pentecost, May 30, 1993. When the Pentecostal Age ended in 1993, we entered a new era, where God would begin to raise up a new Kingdom, one patterned after the rule of David, rather than Saul. David’s reign began on the 59^th Jubilee from Adam, so his reign was built upon the law of Jubilee and the feast of Tabernacles.

In 1993 God confirmed the date of May 30, 1993 with signs following. I have recorded these in other studies in past articles.

Since that day, God has begun to shift the course of church history by giving us a greater understanding and vision of the feast of Tabernacles, which is the third feast in which all men were to stand before God’s face each year (Exodus 34:22, 23).

In ancient times, David was the solution to Saul’s bad precedent. On another level, the feast of Tabernacles was the solution to the problem of Pentecost. In our time, the body of overcomers have now been given increasing authority to rule the nations and determine the course of world history. This authority has been incremental, just as David’s own authority was incremental. David ruled over just one tribe for 7½ years (2 Samuel 5:5) before ruling all the tribes.

Hence, we noted a parallel time for the overcomers from May 30, 1993 to November 30, 2000. The main difference, of course, is that we today are establishing a much greater Kingdom that will ultimately cover the whole earth. So from November 30, 2000 to April 12, 2009, God inserted the House of Joseph into the prophetic picture. Recall that Joseph dreamed that his brothers (including Judah) would bow to him (Genesis 37:9).

Judah’s right to rule was temporary “until Shiloh comes” (Genesis 49:10). Joseph’s rule was greater than David’s, because he ruled Egypt—a prophetic type of the world system. Joseph also held the birthright (1 Chronicles 5:1, 2), which is the right to bring forth the sons of God. We are fast approaching the time when the sons of God will be manifested. It is what all creation needs in order to be set free (Romans 8:19-21).

Christ came the first time through the tribe of Judah to claim His throne rights, and those who supported His claim by faith in Him were given the authority previously given to the church in the wilderness (Acts 7:38 KJV), that is, the Passover church. With this transfer came the authority of the Pentecostal anointing in Acts 2. But this also followed the pattern of King Saul, whose reign was long, but temporary.

Hence, in 1993 the authority to bring forth the Kingdom was transferred from the church to the overcomers. This third church is a combination of David and Joseph, and the overcomers as a body have been given the birthright of Joseph under the Headship of Christ in His second appearance. (See The Laws of the Second Coming.)

https://godskingdom.org/studies/books/the-laws-of-the-second-coming/

Urdu Translation