King Saul and the Church

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1 Samuel 24:16–21 (also 26:25), Here King Saul prophesies that David will succeed him as king over Israel, and that he will do great things and prevail. There were other instances of Saul coming under a spirit of prophecy (also 10:10–11; 19:23–24).

Saul was capable of hearing the voice of Elohim, but because of unrestrained carnality, a spirit of rebellion (15:23), and his inability to submit to the will of Elohim, he was spiritually conflicted. Clearly, YHVH was not in his heart (15:15, 21, 30). Within Saul was a constant struggle between doing the will of Elohim and his own will. The latter usually won out, because he had not unconditionally surrendered his will to YHVH (15:23, 26). Saul was swayed more by popular opinion than by the Word of Elohim (15:24, 30). Saul was able to worship Elohim (15:31), but was spiritually weak and not able to obey the Word of Elohim (15:23, 26). Is it possible to love and worship Elohim without obeying his Word?

Yeshua declared that those who love him will obey his commandments or his Word (John 14:15). James wrote that the demons even tremble before Elohim (Jas 2:19), even though they are in rebellion against the Word of Elohim.

Faith, works and obedience must accompany the worship and fear of Elohim (Jas 2:14–26). Though Saul paid lip service to YHVH, his heart was far from him. He obeyed when it was convenient and expedient to him.

Isaiah similarly spoke of the rebellious Israelites who drew near to YHVH with their lips, but in reality, their hearts were far from him (Isa 29:13). Yeshua quoted and applied this verse to the hypocritical and rebellious religious leaders of his day (Matt 15:6–7).

Have you ever thought that Saul may be a spiritual type of the church, which teaches and obeys the Torah-Word of Elohim only in part, but otherwise follows a Torahless (at times, even anti-Torah) belief system?

But let’s not be arrogant against our Christian brothers! How much of the Saul-mentality do we still have in us—even among those who claim to love and to follow the Torah? How do we find the spiritual blind spots in our own hearts?

 

Where Is The Terror of Elohim Upon Those Around Us?

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Genesis 31:19, Household idols. Heb. teraphim, from rapha meaning “to heal, make healthful.” The ancient pagans viewed these idols superstitiously as good luck charms for good health and prosperity.

But there is more. In ancient Babylon, each family had a shrine where it worshipped its household gods, which were in the shape of clay figurines. These family gods served as guardian angels of the home, and would be left to the eldest son, who, acting as the family high priest, would perpetuate the family’s idol worship after the father’s death. The theft of these household idols left Laban in a very agitated state in that he was willing to pursue Jacob to retrieve them, by force, if necessary. The reason is that these gods conferred the right of primogeniture (to the firstborn son), and acted as a title deed to the father’s inheritance. Thus, Rachel must have stolen her brother’s inheritance thereby making Jacob the legal heir of Laban’s estate (Manners and Customs of Bible Lands, pp. 119–120, by Fred H. Wight; TWOT, p. 980).

Genesis 35:2, Foreign gods. Heb. teraphim. The necessary prerequisites to coming up to Bethel (Heb. the house of El/God) included: the putting away of the pagan idols that were among Jacob’s family members, removing jewelry with any pagan connotations (v. 5), purifying or cleansing oneself (physically and ceremonially), and changing into clean clothing.

Bethel, according to the Jewish sages, was where the Temple of Solomon was eventually built (i.e., the Temple Mount).

Because of this act of consecration, “the terror/fear of Elohim” came upon the Canaanite inhabitants of the surrounding region (v. 5).

What is the lesson here? There are two. When coming into the presence of Elohim, we would be prudent to consecrate ourselves, for Elohim is in heaven, and we are on earth; therefore, let us be careful not to offer up the sacrifice of fools (see Eccl 5:1–2).

And then, let us walk righteously and cleanly before Elohim, devoid of all pagan appearances and practices, and uncleanliness of all kind, including coming before him unbathed and wearing dirty clothing.

Friends, let me be frank. Our society has a dim view of church, Christians and Bible believers for many reasons. There is little or no fear of Elohim in our culture. Currently, Islam is on the rise. In general, there is both a fear of and respect for this religion. Where have we as Bible believers missed it in that the fear of Elohim does not go before us and come upon those around us?

 

Can the Same Person Be Both a Prophet of Elohim and Demonized?

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Below are two examples from the life of King Saul who at times prophesied while under the influence of the Set-Apart Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) of Elohim, and at other times he was under the influence of an evil (demonic) spirit (e.g., when he tried to murder David, when he sought counsel of the witch of Endor).

1 Samuel 18:10, Saul…prophesied. Saul prophesied (Heb. naba). Naba can refer to the prophetic utterances of both true and false prophets. When Saul was under the influence of the Spirit of Elohim he prophesied by the Set-Apart Spirit. When under the influence of an evil spirit, he “raved” (NAS). Is Saul a picture of modern Torahless prophets in the church who sometimes prophesy and sometimes rave?

1 Samuel 19:20–24, Saul and his servants prophesy. Though Saul and his servants were under the influence of an evil spirit, when they came under the influence of the Spirit of Elohim, they would prophesy by the Spirit. Many people in the church claim to be prophets, though they are only walking partially in Torah and partially following the rudiments of this world or pagan and church traditions that violate the Torah-word of Elohim. These are Babylonian prophets who prophesy mixture: sometimes truth and sometimes error.

Do King Saul-type prophets exist in the church today? Many of us have seen or heard those in the church who claim to be prophets, yet they are largely Torahless in belief and practice (all the true biblical prophets were Torah-obedient, as far as we know), are profiting from their careers as prophets (“for-profit prophets?”), and many of their “prophetic” words are later proven to be impossible to substantiate, or are flat-out dead wrong! However, sometimes, their prophecies are right on. What do you make of this? Can this be reconciled from the Scriptures?
 

From Messy Antics to The Dance of Lovers

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Alone in a Dark, Strange House

Have you ever found yourself groping and stumbling around in a totally dark, strange house without a light? Many people who have left the Christian church with some vague notion of returning to the Hebrew roots of their faith find themselves in such a house. Welcome to the house of the Messianic /Hebrew Roots Movement!

Many of us have been there asking ourselves questions like: Where are we? Where are we going? What’s next? Who’s out there? Am I alone?

Shifting from a Christian paradigm and lifestyle to that of the Hebrew/Jewish roots of the Christian faith as modelled by the early believers in the Book of Acts and Apostolic Epistles isn’t an easy one. Perhaps knowing the transition zones or spiritual growth stages we all go through might be like someone handing you a flashlight in that dark house.

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