Torah and New Testament Foundations-The False Messiah-Part 22

We have been talking about King Saul and how he relates to the concept of the First Adam and the Second Adam. In 1 Sam 15.12-21 we pick up where we left off and we learn that Saul was like Adam in that he rationalizes about the obeying God. Saul was told by the Lord to destroy the Amalekites, but Saul didn’t do it. In fact, he left livestock alive and even Agag, the king of the Amalekites. Saul says it was the “people” who took the spoils, like Adam blamed Eve. The key phrase in this passage is v 21, he says, “to the Lord your God” not “my God.” We all do this. When God gives us something to do and we fail, we blame someone else or something else. We alter it according to our own reasoning.

But, God’s ways and thoughts are not our ways and thoughts. We don’t have the mental capacity to see things like God. We are the center of our own little universe and we relate to everything that way. So, Saul blames the people for sparing the livestock and he rationalizes that this was a better plan. 1 Sam 15.22-31 tells us that the kingdom is taken way from Saul and his descendants, even though he continued as king. The “kingdom” of Israel was also seen as the “kingdom” of the Lord (1 Chr 28.5; 2 Chr 13.8). Samuel turned to go after telling Saul this, and Saul seized the kanaf (“corners”) of Samuel’s robe, where the tzitzit were (Num 15.37-41; Mal 4.2). These symbolize God and the commandments. David did this to Saul in 1 Sam 24.1-5, signifying that Saul’s authority as king will be given to David. But, David waited for God to take Saul out.

In 1 Sam 15.32-35, Samuel kills Agag himself, or he ordered it done. This was done to complete what God told Saul to do. This is a keystone chapter and this theme repeats over and over again. Each repetition will give us new and additional information. When we link them together they will be like a wall of concepts. Samuel again tells Saul why the kingdom was taken away from him and given to David in 1 Sam 28.16-18. 1 Chr 10.13-14 tells us that Saul dies “for his trespass which he committed against the Lord because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry, and did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore, he killed him, and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse.”

David, before he becomes king, joined himself to the Philistines. God has spared him from fighting against Saul because the Philistines did not trust him. They send him back and his village of Ziklag, under the control of the Philistines, is given to David. Ziklag was attacked by the Amalekites who burned the town and captured the families of those with David. David goes after them and gets everyone and everything back (1 Sam 30.16-31). So, we know that Saul failed to destroy the Amalekites, and at the same time David is fighting the Amalekites. He makes an ordinance after this battle that those who participated in the battle and those who were left behind to guard the camp will share equally in the spoils. He takes of the spoils and sends them to all the people who are with him throughout Judah, those that had been affected by the Amalekites. This is a picture of what it will be like when Messiah comes, and we have a picture of the First Adam and the Second Adam. Saul failed, but David succeeded.

In 2 Sam 1.1-16 we have the culmination of the failures of Saul. Saul failed to kill the Amalekites, and it was an Amalekite who kills him. Apparently, Saul “fell on his sword” but he didn’t die. He asks his armor bearer to finish him off. However, the armor bearer wouldn’t do it because Saul was anointed by the Lord. Saul is still alive, and the Amalekite finishes him off. He was not afraid to destroy the “Lord’s anointed.” The Amalekite went to David and told him that he killed Saul at his request, and took the crown and the bracelet from Saul and gave it to David (the Edut). David asks who this person was, and he said he was an Amalekite. Then David asks him, “How is it that you were not afraid to stretch out your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” David had the Amalekite killed. Why did the Amalekite come to David? He thought he would be rewarded. He thought this would be “good news” to David because he was Saul’s enemy. But, David loved Saul and he was a blood covenant partner with his son Jonathan.

This is the story of the fall of the First Adam (Saul) and the rise of the Second Adam (David). The stories in the Tanak aren’t just there for a history lesson, or something we take illustrations from. They are much more than that. They are prophecies of the last days. They are profiles of the eschatological characters that will play a role in the last days. They are events that will give us detail on what is to come. What we need to do is collect all the data and build our “prophecy wall” and make a strong city that the enemy cannot penetrate with delusion. This is the purpose of this teaching.

With Amalek we have a literal people of long ago. Amalek was an Edomite, descended from Esau. By the time we get to where Israel is coming out of Egypt they have become a great people and very warlike. They are no longer seen as Edomites, but a distinct people called the Amalekites. Josephus records that the Amalekites were centered around the city of Petra at the time of the Exodus. Over the centuries, the people were lost. But, God has said we would have war with the Amalekites from generation to generation, and they would be there at the end, in the last days (Num 24.24). Our opinion is that there will be a people who have the “spirit and attitude” of the Amalekites.

In Psa 83.1-8 we have a list of people who hate the Lord, therefore Israel. They want to wipe out Israel from being a people, like Amalek wanted to do. In the charter of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) it says the same thing. Land is not what their objective is, it is the destruction of the Jewish people. The False Messiah will have the spirit of Amalek and his goal will be the destruction of the Jewish people. Why? Because he hates God. So, let’s take a look at the spirit of Amalek.

In the article on “Amalek” in Wikipedia it says, “In Jewish tradition, the Amalekites came to represent the archetypal enemy of the Jews. The concept has been used by some Hassidic rabbis (particularly the Ba’al Shem Tov) to represent atheism or the rejection of God.” Remember, when Israel came out and camped at Rephidim (“lax”) and Amalek attacked, they were murmuring and involved in strife. These things can happen to us when we become “lax” and aren’t right in many areas. At the root of the spirit of Amalek is a hatred for the God of Israel. This hatred is directed towards the Jewish people because God chose them to be the “light bearer” and the conduit through whom the Scriptures, the Messiah, the Temple and the covenants would come (Rom 9.4-5). This spirit can be manifested in various enticements and heresies. If you want to attack someone, go after their kids.

Further in the article on Amalek in Wikipedia it says, “Nur Masalha, Elliot Horowitz and Josef Stern suggest that the Amalekites have come to represent an eternally irreconcilable enemy that wants to murder Jews, and that the Jews in post-biblical times sometimes associate contemporary enemies with Haman or the Amalekites, and that some Jews believe that preemptive violence is acceptable against such enemies.” The article goes on to say that “the Nazis and Adolf Hitler have been referred to as Amalekites.” “A prominent nineteenth century and early twentieth century rabbi, Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, claimed upon Kaiser Wilhelm’s visit to Palestine in 1898, three decades before Hitler’s rise to power, that he had a tradition from his teachers that the Germans are descended from the ancient Amalekites.” Now, personally, we don’t believe that they are. The Amalekites are a Semitic people (Shem) and the Germans are a Japhetic (Japheth) people. But, Germany has been afflicted with the “spirit of Amalek” during the twentieth century. Some Jews today call the Germans “Amalekites.”

In Part 23, we will pick up here and begin to talk about the encoded messages in the Book of Esther. We will look at several Bible Codes done by people who know what they are doing. There is a good book on this called “CompuTorah: Hidden Codes in the Torah” by Moshe Katz that we will use to bring some of this information out. There are messages from the Lord in the Hebrew script that are valid, so we will take a look at some.

Posted in All Teachings, Articles, Idioms, Phrases and Concepts, Prophecy/Eschatology, The Festivals of the Lord, The Tanak, Tying into the New Testament

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