Ryan King - Geography Of The Holy Land - Class 3 - Ye Mountains Of Gilboa Let There Be No Dew

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:03

   Thank you, Brother Matt. Uh, it’s now time for us uh to uh call upon our brother Ryan to continue a series of geography of the Holy Land. And this is Class 3, uh ye Mountains of Gilboa. Let there be no dew, Brother Ryan. Well, good morning, my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ and my dear young people. This morning, in our consideration of the geography of the Holy Land, we’d like to examine two men, two men who were brethren and yet who were taken on divergent courses because of the choices.

2. 0:51

   That they made. They could have stood together and no weapon formed against them would prosper. They loved each other. But they met with two very, very different ends. And this morning we want to see how the land itself was to bear out their destiny. A positive destiny of one man and a negative destiny of another man. We’re speaking, of course, about King David and King Saul. You’ll recall that in our opening session we had a look at this particular territory here known as the Shephilah. It was where many of David’s wanderings were during his exile and when he was fleeing from salt. The word Shephelah signifies the lowlands, and it’s in this area which leads up to the Judean hills, where David spent a lot of his wanderings.

3. 1:43

   You’ll notice that the Shephelah, which is these little bumps, these undulating hills right here, hogs the coast, the Philistine coast. And here you can see Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, the major cities of the Philistines, go right up to the Shefila. And because of that, it was the Center for a lot of the skirmishes that took place between Judah and the Philistines.

4. 2:09

   These little valleys that you see here are the four main valleys that dissect the Shefila. It was in these valleys where a lot of these battles took place, culminating in the events, the dramatic events of First Samuel Chapter 17, to which we shall now turn First Samuel Chapter 17. We just put on the screen here another map of those four valleys.

5. 2:43

   Not a topographical map, but one that just shows these four valleys that sort of dissect the Shafila. They are the valley of Agilon and these are all significant in scripture. The valley of Agilon where the sun and the moon stood still. There’s the valley of Sorak, where Delilah lived, where Samson lived. There is the valley of Elah which comes down through here, and there is the Valley of Lakish which forms a significant part of the time When the Assyrian invaded.

6. 3:10

   All of these valleys were are saturated with biblical history, and it’s to one of those valleys that we will now turn in First Samuel Chapter 17. Now, as we’ve noted frequently, good Bible study is based upon good Bible reading. We can all read carefully. There’s only two things that are required to be a good Bible student.

7. 3:30

   That’s the ability to read and the ability to think. And I don’t know anyone in here who doesn’t have those two things. Let’s just read carefully verse one of First Samuel 17. There’s a precision about this verse that we really need to note. Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and we’re gathered together at Shaco, which belongs to Judah and Azika in Ephes Damin. Now, it’s not just any location, it’s not just a general area. It’s at Shaco, which belongs to Judah and Azika in Ephes Damin. On this map here we have the direction from whence the Philistines came off in the distance. Here is the Mediterranean Sea.

8. 4:18

   This. Is Gath, which is Goliath hometown. Gath was the key city for the Philistines. It’s called in the book of Samuel Nephag Amah, which means the bridal of the mother city, because it held the key to the gateway, the Philistine cities, which were over in this direction. And so they would have come from the West.

9. 4:38

   Here’s a Zika right here, and here’s the brook that winds its way through the valley. That was where the Philistines came from, from that direction. Verse two says, And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together and pitched by the valley of Elah and set the battle in array against the Philistines. Now they would have come from the eastern direction. You’ll recall we talked about the hump in our opening two sessions.

10. 5:02

    That central Hump that goes right down the middle of the land, the Hill Country. Here’s the Hill Country, right here, the Judean hills. David would have come right through here, from the fields of Bethlehem to the valley of Elah. And here’s Shaco. And this is the northern end or the the eastern end of the valley where Saul and the men of Israel were camped. It’s an absolutely picturesque spot in the land even today. And it was the scene of this great valley. It’s a flat valley, and on one end where the Philistines, and on one end where the Israelites they stood, locked there, checkmated, not willing to give it an inch. Knowing that whoever moved first lost the strategic advantage, here’s another picture of the valley just taken from Shako. This off in the distance here is Beshimesh, which is expanding further and further towards the valley at present moment. So it was here where this great battle took place. Now verse three is very, very carefully worded. It says and the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side.

11. 6:11

    And Israel stood on a mountain on the other side. So one’s on one side, the other’s on the other side. So there’s obviously some sort of lesson that’s being drawn in the placement of these armies. And there was a valley between them. Now, the interesting thing about these verses, brothers and sisters, is is that the meanings of the names are highly significant.

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    You know, whatever scripture repeats names like it does in verse 1/2, it’s inviting us to grab our concordance and to check the meanings of the names. Because there is a lesson that is being drawn in mentioning all of these places here in verses one and two. And the lesson that’s being drawn is the lessons of Eden. Verse one paints a picture of the Garden of Eden. After the Fall.

13. 7:06

    The Philistines were gathered together in a place called Shaka, which means a hedge of thorns. Between Shocko and Azika, Azika means to dig over. So there the ground had brought forth thorns and thistles, where man with the sweat of his face had to dig it over. They were also the place called Ephes Damon, which means the field of blood where man’s sins had been prominent.

14. 7:31

    There in Genesis chapter four with Cain and Abel. And that was where the Philistines were gathered. It’s a picture of the Garden of Eden after the Fall, and on the other side we have the Israelites. They’re pitched at a place called Elah, which means a strong tree, and they had on their side, if only they knew it, the tree of life. And those were the issues here.

15. 7:53

    God brought them specifically to this place, that these lessons might be brought before the people. One on the one. Side the other On the other side the combatants There was Goliath of Gath. His name means the exiled man had been driven from the garden. Goliath represented man in his fallen condition. The man of Sin, whose height verse four was 6 cubits and a span. He was covered in brass.

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    As verse 5. And the word for brass and the word for serpent in the Hebrew are cognate words. So here was the man of flesh in all his ugliness, and he was standing there as a Philistine. You know, in this chapter he’s only called Goliath a couple of times.

17. 8:45

    He’s called over and over and over again the Philistine, the Philistine, the Philistine because he represents all that Philistines stand for. You’ll see verse 8:00, AM I not a Philistine verse 10. And the Philistines said verse 11. And when they heard the words of the Philistine verse 16, and the Philistine junior, he’s called the Philistine. Because you see, a Philistine means a Wallower in the dust. Dust he was.

18. 9:14

    And to dust on this day he would return. And standing opposite of him was a man named David, whose name means a beloved. And he was the king of Israel, meaning a Prince with God. So on one hand we’ve got a prevailer or a Prince with God, and on the other hand we’ve got the wallowers in the dust. And the land Here on this day was to recount the issues of Eden.

19. 9:39

    You’ll recall we said in the opening session that the land reinforces the principles of the truth that we all know to be true. And here were the issues of Eden set out in these places. Thorns and thistles, dust of the earth, having to dig it over with the sweat of his face. And on the other hand, we’ve got a strong tree, we’ve got a beloved Prince with God. And they were the issues facing Israel on that day. And there was one man there on that day who understood that better than anyone.

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    And his name was King David. We know that if we turn to Psalm 8, if we turn to Psalm 8, we see that David clearly understood by this incident that the issues of Eden were before them on that day. It wasn’t just about he and Goliath. It was about something far greater and bigger, Psalm 8. Was the Psalm that David wrote to commemorate his victory over Goliath.

21. 10:37

    Goliath in First Samuel 17 verse four is called the champion A. Champion went out amongst the camps well in the titles to the Psalms which the guide of which were given by thirl. We know that the heading of Psalm 9. Really. Belongs to the bottom of Psalm 8. We’re given that guide both by Thirl and in Habakkuk Chapter 3, which is a model Psalm.

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    We know that the heading that we see in Psalm 9 where it says to the chief musician upon Muthlabin that that really belongs to the bottom of Psalm 8. So the words of Psalm 8 should end. O Yahweh, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth? To the chief musician upon Muthlabin. That’s how Psalm 8 ends.

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    Now Muth Laban signifies the death of the champion. The death of the champion. And so David wrote this Psalm to commemorate his great victory over Goliath. And what’s in David’s mind in Psalm 8? What’s the issues of Eden? Verse 3. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon, and the stars, which thou hast ordained, what is man?

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    That thou art mindful of him and the Son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. Thou made us, Tim, to have dominion over the works of thine hands, which was the position which man had in the beginning in Genesis chapter one.

25. 12:10

    He was given dominion over the works of God’s hands. But as we know, Adam through his sin forfeited that dominion. It was lost. And so David says, What is man? That thou art. Mindful of him and the word man that he uses there in verse four is the Hebrew word enosh. Now. There are three different words from man in the Hebrew. There’s the word Adam which is used of common man. There’s the word ish, which speaks of a great man. And then there’s the word enosh, which means weak, destitute, and sick.

26. 12:47

    Now when God created man in the beginning, did he create him weak, destitute and sick? No, he was created very good. But man lost that condition through his sins. And so David here is looking upon the creation. He says. What is man? You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands.

27. 13:08

    But but how is it? That. That he’s ever. Going to get back to that state and David worked it out. The only way that man could ever reclaim the promise of Genesis chapter one, that he would have dominion over the works of God’s hands, was that God would have to visit one man. What is verse 4?

28. 13:31

    The Son of man Ben. Ah, Adam. Thou visitest him and Paul in Hebrews chapter 2 quotes these words in application to the Lord Jesus Christ. That in order for man to ever have dominion again over the works of God’s hand, so that all sheep and oxen, all beasts to the field would be under his control, was that he would have to visit one man, a son of Adam, who would take the Goliath nature of mankind and would conquer it in himself, so that a way might be open for all men to once again receive those blessings that were promised in the beginning.

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    You know when Paul quotes in Hebrews chapter 2 verse five of this Psalm, he inserts 1 little phrase in the middle. I’d like to just read. Verse five of Psalm 8 with you it says, for thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, that when Paul quotes that in Hebrews 2 he inserts these words for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor.

30. 14:36

    And then he adds that. He by the grace of God five smooth stones should taste death for every man. And David had worked out that it was not just about he and Goliath on that day. He was looking forward to the great victory which his greater son would have, where once and for all the Goliath nature would be defeated.

31. 15:03

    And he saw his act on that day as being a little cameo of the great thing that God would one day through do through his greater Son. And you know, Goliath came out to him and mocked him. He said, I’m going to give you to the fowl of the air and to the beast of the earth.

32. 15:23

    And he didn’t even know Goliath on that day that he was quoting Genesis chapter one. He said, I’m going to give you to the fowl of the air. Look at verse 8, the fowl of the air, the fish of the sea. I’m going to give you to the fowl of the air, he said to Dave.

33. 15:37

    And David turns around and says, I’m going to give you to the fowl of the air. Into the beast of the field. He understood what it was all about, but he did something else that demonstrates his immense understanding. David had an understanding of these things that few in Israel had at that particular time. If you come back to First Samuel 17, we know, of course, that he took five smooth stones, the grace of God, and he finished Goliath smiting him in his head.

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    But he did an action after that that demonstrated his marvelous understanding of what was happening really on that day in First Samuel 17 we read in verse 53, and the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents. And David took the head of the Philistine. There it is again, just the Philistine, the Wallower, and the dust, and brought it to Jerusalem. But he put his armor in his tent, so he he cuts off his head.

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    Genesis 315 the the serpent thinking was to be destroyed, he puts his armor in his tent and he takes the head to Jerusalem. Now who was in control of Jerusalem at this time?

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    It was the Jebusite. Jerusalem was not under David’s control till some years later, but he wanted to take that head. To Jerusalem. Because he understood from Genesis chapter 14 and Genesis chapter 22 that that would be the location where one day his greater son would take the serpent mind and would conquer it in himself and for once and for all put to death that thinking.

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    So David was here in the valley of Eva. This Ku Kayapha is Ephes Damon. It’s the Arab word for Ephes Damon. Now he had to go all the way up here into the Hill Country, from the valley of Elah to Jerusalem, which is 2700 feet above sea level. Put that head there, even though it was in the control of the Jebusite. He went into that city under Jebusite control and put the head there, showing his understanding of what was really being done on that day, the he, by his act of slain Goliath, was demonstrating.

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    What God would ultimately do with the great power of sin. And so he brought it to that place and returned. David understood what few in Israel understood, that he was enacting a wonderful parable, and it was the land that taught him that. It was the meaning of all those places that reminded David of the great issues that face mankind. The issues of Eden, And he wrote about that so powerfully in the 8th Psalm.

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    Well, that was David’s destiny. That was his understanding. The land clearly directed him as to what he ought to do. Now we want to see the contrast. We want to see the contrast in a man who was not as bad off as you might think, a man named King Saul. You know, the first time that we meet David in the record of scripture, brothers and sisters, he’s keeping his father’s sheep. The first time that we meet Saul in the record of Scripture, brothers and sisters, he’s looking for his father’s lost asses.

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    And both the ass and the sheep were symbols of Israel. I’d. Like you to come to First Samuel Chapter 9, you know whenever you get a series of places mentioned in the Bible together, a series of of of towns or of districts, do yourself a favor in your readings and get out a map.

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    This incident in First Samuel Chapter 9 is really a microcosm of Saul’s whole life. He’s looking for his father’s lost asses. In First Samuel Chapter 9 we read in verse three in the asses of Kish Saul’s father were lost. Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of thy servants with thee, and rise and go and seek thee asses.

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    He passed through Mount Ephraim. He passed through the land of Shalisha, but they found them not. Then they passed through the land of Shalom, and there they were not. And he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not, and they were coming to the land of Zuf. Saul said to his servant.

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    That was with me. We need to go back where my father’s going to be worried about. Us. And not the asses. Now look at that serf that’s there in verse four. He passed through Mount Ephraim, then through the land of the Shalisha, then to the land of Shalom, then through the territory of the Benjamites. Now if you look at what Saul’s doing here, he’s actually going around in circles.

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    He’s going around in circles. He’s up into the Hill Country of Ephraim, then over to Shalisha, then down to Shalom, then back into the territory of Benjamin. He’s just going around and around in circles. See if you don’t know the geography of the land that points going to escape you. He’s going around in circles. It’s a microcosm of his whole life. He’s always around the truth.

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    He knows the truth, but he’s just unable to follow it in his life. Sometimes we might feel like our lives are like that, like we’re just going around in circles and and bear in mind, this is Hill Country here. I mean, this is you wouldn’t. It’s not like they expended no effort looking for these asses. The search went on for a few days. We learned later in the chapter Samuel has to go and say, look, we found them.

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    But that was a microcosm of Saul’s life around and around and around and around. And yet Saul was a man, brothers and sisters who had potential. He was a man very much like us. Look at the way he rescued the men of Jabash Gilead. You know when. Samuel came to him in in chapter 15 and and it Samuel had the the very difficult task of having to reject Saul. Samuel said, you know, when you were little in your own sight, didn’t God make you king over all the tribes of Israel? You know, he, he put the the witches and the Wizards out of the land.

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    They had to go and get them among from among the stuff. He was humble, he was impressionable. He was someone who had potential. And David loves Saul greatly. Remember that meeting in The Cave of Engedi. You know, David said, My Lord, my King Saul said you. Is it thy voice? David, my son, You know, these two men loved each other.

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    It broke. Samuel’s heart to. Reject Saul. So what was the basis of Saul’s rejection then? Well, he was reminded in chapter 15, and he was reminded again on the very night before he died, because thou hast rejected the word of Yahweh. Yahweh has rejected you. And that was the difference between these two men, that one man studied and appreciated the principles of the truth and wanted to make them the guiding hand in his life, and the other one didn’t.

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    Saul wasn’t rejected for the baser instincts of his nature. Those things are native to all of us. He was rejected because he rejected the only means of controlling those baser instincts. And that will be the basis of our rejection. Brothers and sisters. If we fail to bow down to the supremacy and the God that is found in this book, we hear an exhortation on Sunday morning. We know is right.

50. 23:39

    We know we need to put into practice what the brother is telling us. But then we go out on that afternoon and we’ve forgotten all about it, and we’ve become just like Saul. But he was a man who certainly had potential, who certainly had good desires. And more than that, I’m going to suggest to you, brothers and sisters, that he had a hero. There was someone that he looked up to. There was someone that he had patterned his life after that had gone before him.

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    Fittingly, they were both off of the Rachel branch of the family. Saul’s hero was Gideon. You know that Saul’s battle on Mount Gilboa where he lost his life, was exactly the setup of Gideon. We’ll see that in a moment. Saul’s life was meant to be a pattern after the life of Gideon. And you go all the way through Saul’s life. It’s just Gideon, Gideon, Gideon, Gideon, all the way through.

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    And I don’t think that’s coincidental. Saul wanted to be like this man, but he just didn’t have the ability to let the word of God dictate his thinking. You see some of these parallels? They both had humble beginnings. You know when Gideon was called, the Angel said, thou mighty man of valor. And Gideon says, my my family’s poor in Manasseh. I’m the least of my father’s house. And Saul said something very similar in First Samuel 9. It’s almost he says I’m not, am I not the least of all the families of Benjamin in First Samuel Chapter 9. You’re making me king.

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    It’s almost word for word what Gideon said. But both men were encouraged through the spirit of God. The spirit of God came upon both Gideon and Saul. Both men were given some dramatic signs. Gideon had to be given 4 signs before he went forth to fight the Midianites that God was with him.

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    And Saul was given the same assurances by God both in First Samuel chapter 10 as well as in Chapter 11. You know when, Gideon. Divided his 300 judges. Chapter 7 says that he divided. Into. Three companies. He divided the 300 into 3 companies. You know, when Saul went out to rescue the men of Jabesh Gilead, he put the army in three companies. Do you think he just did that?

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    Randomly. No. He was following the example of another man. He put them in three companies. Gideon came upon the Middie Nights and the middle Watch. Saul came in the morning watch. See how similar their lives are? Gideon said at the end of his life. I’m not going to rule over you. Yahweh shall rule over you. And when In First Samuel Chapter 11 when they want to. To put to death.

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    The people that had said let’s make Saul king, Saul said no. One’s going to be put to death because Yahweh’s wrought a great salvation in Israel, Saul’s. Role model in the truth. Was Gideon he had. All of the intentions of serving God. But he just. Failed to follow on those intentions. You compromise with the world. Once it becomes easier to compromise a second time, you fail to follow the word of God again. It just becomes easier and easier until you spiral down further and further.

57. 27:12

    And that was how Saul ended up. So let’s just set the battle here in First Samuel chapter 28, where we’ll we’re about to go. You see, the Philistines were beginning to take some shellacking’s down in the Shephilah because Israel had the high ground. The Shephilah is very, very hilly. The Philistines were down here on the plain. So the Israelites had the advantage, the strategic advantage.

58. 27:38

    So the Philistines says, look, we we’ve got to stop this. We’ve got to to do something else. So they decide to March N They first came here to Afhec, which is right here known in the Old Testament is aphic. Known in the New Testament is Antipatrus. You’ll you’ll remember that the Apostle Paul spent the night at Antipatrus in the book of Acts, and there David.

59. 28:03

    We know that providentially David left the army of the Philistines. He was taken out of that after his conversation with Akish, which was a wonderful thing for David, because he would have gone up here to Gilboa, where his best friend Jonathan was killed. And how would David have felt if he was on the other side in that battle? So providentially, David was.

60. 28:30

    He left the company of the Philistines there. In fact, he had been with them because he was fleeing from Saul, and Saul didn’t have the gumption to go down the land of the Philistines. And so he comes back and the next time we find him, he’s down Ziklag down here. So the Philistines marched N up here into what’s known as the Jezreel Valley. Now, the Jezreel Valley is not like the Shefila. It’s flat.

61. 28:55

    And so they thought that by meeting the Israelites on flat level ground, they could meet them on ground of their choosing and perhaps be more successful. You’ll recall that we in looking at that hump that goes right down the middle of Israel, there were the Galilee hills in the north and there were the Samaritan hills in the center. What divides the Galilean hills in the north from the Samaritan hills is the Valley of Jezreel.

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    It starts right up here at Mount Carmel, and it goes right on down here to round about the Jordan River. As a matter of fact, this park down here around Bay Shan is all below sea level, and there are 4 great heights along this valley. There’s Mount Gilboa, which is right here. There’s the Hill of Moray, which is right kind of in the middle.

63. 29:44

    There’s Mount Tabor right here. And then there’s Mount Carmel, which is this range right here. If you’re looking at the Land of Israel. And you know how there in the Land of Israel, there’s this bump right here. It’s straight all the way down, but there’s a little bump right here. The bump is Mount Carmel.

64. 30:04

    It’s where the the modern city of Haifa is today. So Mount Carmel, there is the bump. And by the way, little things like this help you remember where places are the Sea of Galilee. Is parallel with a bump. So the Bump’s here, This is the Sea of Galilee here, and right down the middle is what’s known as the Valley of Jezreel. It is a lush, fertile valley.

65. 30:31

    It’s the bread basket of Israel, and although they don’t want to admit it, it’s the bread basket of many of the Arab countries. This plain here. You see the the camel range. Here’s Haifa. Just goes right down in here. It’s flat, very, very fertile, Very good for gardening, Very, very good for growing things. And it was here where the Philistines wanted to meet the Israelites, because if we meet them here, we feel like we have the advantage over them.

66. 31:00

    Now you’ve got these four points, Tabor, the hill of Moray is around here. Yilboa’s here. Carmel’s here at the top of the valley of Jezreel’s. A little town, not so little today, called Nazareth.

67. 31:18

    You know, we’re not told much about the Lord Jesus Christ between the ages of 12 and 30. As a matter of fact, we’re not told anything. But we do know he was here on the hills of Nazareth. Now, what do you think he would have been thinking about sitting on these hills, looking down at this history? He would have been recounting Deborah and Barack on Mount Tabor.

68. 31:39

    He would have been recounting Gideon’s faithfulness. In the valley of Jezreel against the Midianites, he would have recounted the death of Josiah. Here at Megiddo he had been thinking about the tragic failure of Saul on Mount Gilboa. All of this was there before him, and he was contemplating these things, having his ear wakened morning by morning to hear it was to this place that Saul and his armies were to meet the Philistines come over to First Samuel, chapter 28.

69. 32:17

    Yahweh, as we know, has departed from Saul Chapter 15, when the mantle was rent, it was taken from his hand, and that drove Saul, of course. As we know, on the course of insanity he persecuted David, and he comes to his tragic end here in First Samuel 28, where he’s to inquire of a witch.

70. 32:40

    For Samuel 28 and verse 4, the Philistines gathered themselves together and came and pitched in. Shunam and Saul gathered all Israel together and they pitched in Mount Gilboa. Now here is Mount Gilboa. Beautiful spot. Here’s the Jezreel Valley going right down the center and it says there that the Philistines were pitched in Shunam. Now the next chapter says they pitched in Jezreel. Shunam is just a little bit off this map here. Here’s Jezreel.

71. 33:11

    There’s a tell there today where you can go and visit. And here’s Mount Gilboa now, who’s got the strategic advantage in this battle? Who’s got the high ground? Well, Saul and his armies are up here on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines are down here in the valley of Jezreel. Saul can see everything they’re doing.

72. 33:32

    He knows exactly what’s going on in that camp. There’s no. Way ordinarily speaking, why Saul should have ever lost that battle? Because he had every advantage, humanly speaking, for victory. But you see, Yahweh had left him, and it grieved Saul. And verse five says. And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid. Now the word afraid or not The word afraid rather, but the word trembled.

73. 34:08

    There in verse five is the word Herod. His heart was herodic. Now what happened at the well of Herod? Come back to Judges chapter seven. Well, it was the Well of Herod where Gideon’s army was formed. Judges Chapter 7. And this is Saul’s role model, Saul’s hero and his heart is. Here, and it’s Herodic. Judges Chapter 7, verse one.

74. 34:43

    Then Jeroboel, who was Gideon and all the people that were with him, rose up early and pitched beside the well of Herod. That’s that word rendered trembled in First Samuel chapter 28 and verse 5, so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them by the hill of Moray in the valley. And there we find 32,000.

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    Worked its way down in a symbolic judgement seat to 300 the fearful and those that were afraid, those that were heroding were turned away, and it was only those who lapped up the water and kept their eyes on the enemy. That made it. Into Gideon’s army. And so it is with us, brothers and sisters.

76. 35:26

    It’s only by keeping our eyes on our enemy sin and knowing what it’s capable of as we drink the word of God. Every day that we’re ever going to be allowed, by God’s grace, into Gideon’s army. And that was. There at the well of Herod, Saul is in a place that he should have known, spoke of God delivering his people, but his heart was heroding. Yahweh has left me and desperate, desperate for some sort of answer.

77. 36:02

    And First Samuel, chapter 28. He goes and he inquires of a witch, a witch who lived at a place called endured First Samuel, chapter 28, verse seven. Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit it endure.

78. 36:28

    So God is Saul is inquiring of Yahweh silence. His heart is trembling as he looks at the Philistines down there on the plane, and he’s desperate for some sort of answer. And he. He says, well, there’s. There’s someone here with a familiar spirit down here at Endor. Now where was Endor Saul’s Here on Mount Gilboa?

79. 36:50

    Endor is just around the hill of more in this area here. OK, so the. Philistines are over here, Saul’s on Gilboa. He doesn’t want the Philistines to see him, so he goes down at night. He goes down at night and wasn’t at night.

80. 37:05

    Mount Gilboa over here towards Endor. You know, when he went from Mount Gilboa to Endor, he would have. Had to have crossed. The Well of Herod, because the Well of Herod runs right through here. The Well of Herod actually goes into the Jordan River. It’s down at you, cross it down at Bayshan. So he’s going across the well of Herod, the very place where his hero Gideon had LED a great victory over the Midianites, and he ducks around the hill of Moray so the Philistines don’t see him and he stops here at a place called Endor. Now what famous event took place at Endor? Well, that was the place where Psalm 83 says that Sisera died. It says that Sisera met his end at Endor. And here in this place, Saul isn’t going, and he’s inquiring of a.

81. 37:56

    Witch this was the. Tragic end of Saul. The geography of the land. Bespoke his rejection, he was in a place where he should have stood for the principles of the truth, where Yahweh would have given him victory over any force. But he had. Failed to learn the great lesson of his life, which we will summarize at the end of our session this morning.

82. 38:20

    So he goes to the witch of Endor, and she purports to have raised Samuel from the dead, and she can no more raise Samuel from the dead than I can. And she brings Samuel up. And speaking to who he thinks was Samuel, he says in verse 15, and some of the saddest words you find in the scriptures.

83. 38:37

    I am so distressed, for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by profits nor by dreams. Therefore have I called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. And Samuel repeats his rejection that he gave to Saul in chapter 15. You know what he said on that occasion? Said stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry and rebellion as the sin of witchcraft, and here he is inquiring of a witch. And he was reminded of his rejection for because he did not slay the the Amalekites in verse 18, because thou obeyedest not the voice of Yahweh, nor executed his fierce wrath upon Amalek.

84. 39:29

    Therefore Yahweh hath done this thing unto thee this day, And some of you may know that First Samuel 28 to 31 is a contrast between two men, one in the northern part of the land and the other in the southern part of the land. David down South, is slaughtering the Amalekites, rescuing his two wives, receiving specific answers as he inquires by means of Urim and Thummim.

85. 39:58

    He was providentially delivered from the Philistines in chapter 27, and on the other hand we have. Saul, who was reminded here in chapter 28 of his failure to smite, AMOLED, And then the next day, in First Samuel chapter 31, he dies at the hand of the Philistines. Their destinies were exactly the opposite, and it was the land that that spoke so eloquently of their rejection.

86. 40:30

    In First Samuel chapter 31, we have the tragic end of Saul, first one. Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before. The Philistines. You see, they had. Met them down on the valley, the floor of the valley, But they fled. They ran up into Mount Gilboa, and the Philistines followed after them.

87. 40:55

    Quit yourselves like men, they’ve said to themselves. And the Philistines verse 2 followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons. And the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab and Melkashua saw sons, and the battle went sore against Saul, And The Archers hit him, and he was sore wounded of The Archers. Remember what David did, brothers and sisters, at the beginning of our session.

88. 41:22

    We’re told in First Samuel, 17 that he cut off Goliath’s head. He stripped off his armor and the record says he took that to Jerusalem, where it probably became the basis for the word Golgotha, the place of the skull that was David’s destiny in first name of chapter 17. Want to see Saul’s destiny?

89. 41:46

    First, Chronicles chapter 10 because the Chronicles account just adds 1 little word. That ties both of these events together, one ending in glory and the other in tragedy.

90. 42:05

    First Chronicles, chapter 10 and verses 8 to 10. It came to pass on the Morrow verse Chronicles 10, verse 8, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in Mount Gilbella. And when they had stripped him, they took his head and his armor, and sent it into the land of the Philistines roundabout to carry tidings unto the their idols and to the people.

91. 42:39

    And they put his armor in the House of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon. So Saul’s armor is stripped and his head is cut off. You know what the Hebrew word is for head there in verse 10?

92. 42:57

    It’s one of the. Few occurrences in the Old Testament of the word Golgotha. So, Saul’s. Armor is stripped. His head Hebrew. Golgotha is cut off by the wallowers in the dust. Contrast that with David, who cut off Goliath’s head. Stripped his armor and brought the head. To Golgotha. And there we have a powerful contrast between the destinies of these two men, one in fulfilling the word of God. The other had rejected the word of God and was met with the opposite destiny.

93. 43:37

    These two men were brothers. They had a filial affection for one another. But what divided them? It was what? One wanted to do what the Bible said, had an affection for it, had a love for it, was a man after God’s own heart, and the other one didn’t. The other one didn’t even know where Samuel was.

94. 44:00

    Who he was had to be told, and despite what good intentions he might have had in following Gideon, he was never able to follow through on those good intentions. Saul’s destiny was the reverse of David’s. One in the north of the land, the other in the South of the land. The question that we want to ask, brothers and sisters, is why?

95. 44:29

    How did it occur like that? They could have stood there, drank of the well of Herod, remembered, Gideon, remembered Deborah and Barek with his meager 10,000 men overcoming 900 Chariots of iron. What was the difference? They could have stood there together. What was the difference? I’d like to. Conclude with this, this quotation.

96. 44:49

    You might think it’s strange that we’re concluding with this quotation, but this is one of my favorite quotations from Brother Thomas. It’s one that we often quote in talk. In our conversations on the Atonement, we talk about how our sinful nature is our misfortune, not our crime. But I want you to focus on the second-half of the quote and what he says here.

97. 45:08

    He says this sinful nature we inherit. It is our misfortune, not our crime, that we possess it. We are only blameworthy when being supplied with the power of subduing it. We permit it to reign over us. You see, Saul was supplied with the power. His spirit was turned into another man when he was first called. He knew the power, but he never allowed that power to reign in his life.

98. 45:36

    He says this. Power resides in the testimony of God believed. So that we are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. This testimony ought to dwell in us, as it dwelt in the Lord Jesus, So that is, with the shield of faith. The fiery assaults of the world may be quenched with a thus it is written, and a thus saith the Lord.

99. 45:57

    Our salvation, brothers and sisters, depends upon keeping this word locked in our thinking so that the thinking can at. Least be kept. Most of the time, on things that were higher, David followed that and Saul didn’t. And that will be our undoing, brothers and sisters. When we get to the judgement seat. It’s not going to be very complicated.

100. 46:18

     The Word of God said that and you either complied or you didn’t. Romans 2 says the judgement will be according to the truth. We’re not guilty for possessing A damic nature, but we are guilty when we allow that nature. To rule over us. When we don’t allow this power to rule and to work in our lives. Second Timothy Chapter 3.

101. 46:44

     We’ll finish here words that are so familiar to us, but which make reference to this power that we all need to tap into if we’re to be there with David and with Gideon, with those faithful when the Lord returns. Second Timothy, Chapter 3 and verse 15. That from a child that was known the Holy Scriptures which were able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

102. 47:18

     All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Now, some of you may know that that word there, profitable, is the Greek word Dunami, which is the word that means powerful. It’s the word. From which we get our word dynamite. All Scripture is powerful, all Scripture for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness.

103. 47:53

     That the man of God, and this is the original Greek, might be made, and then finished artiox X artiox that might be made. And then finished. Saul was made, but the word never finished him. David allowed that word to direct him. It was his delight and his meditation. All the day he was finished he was complete. Brothers and sisters, let us take hold of this power that we have at our disposal, and woe to us if we reject it.