Day: May 12, 2018

Saul Died by His Own Sword

1 Samuel 31:5  And when his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword, and died with him.

This is a part of yesterday’s message, which is a larger part of the word given me on December 31, 2017 for this year.   It is the end of the world as we know it and an era is coming to an end.  Everyone who supported the system of the globalists around the world have reached the peak in their career.

Saul represents an era.  It is an era of choosing what feels right according to the senses, or the flesh.  In the time of Judges, the Lord Adonai desired that men rightly govern themselves and when disputes arose between them, the appointed judges would settle the matters.  However,  two themes emerged; there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes.

The Lord raised up Samuel the prophet to then judge Israel (I Samuel 7).

Back in 2008 I had a word about Samuel the prophet.  Copied here:

The Commanded Blessing

for here the Lord commanded the blessing
life forevermore
psalm 133:3 
I read today about Billy Graham.  Possibly America’s most respected evangelist in our time.

from the Associated Press:
 

“Franklin Graham said in an interview that his father’s mind remains sharp even as his body continues to fail. But the preacher who has counseled every president beginning with Eisenhower is not in line to mentor Obama.

 

(Franklin) expressed concern about Obama’s views on abortion and gay marriage – an issue Franklin Graham raised in a meeting with the Illinois senator – saying that he and his father are conservatives who believe the Bible speaks clearly on those issues. “President-elect Obama heard our position,” Franklin Graham said. “And I told him that this was very difficult for us and hard for us. It’s a moral issue that we just can’t back down on.

and further on down in the article:
“He could catch a cold and his life could come to an end,” Franklin Graham said. “At his age, any little thing could be a serious event. We realize that.” His days at 90 are a stark contrast to Graham’s days as a globe-trotting evangelist – a ministry that put him behind the pulpit to speak with 215 million people in more than 185 countries and placed him in the confidence of some of the world’s most powerful people. ”

 

As I read this article about Billy Graham, I thought of Samuel.  

“Now Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.  He used to go annually on circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places.  Then his return was to Ramah, for his house was there, and there he judged Israel; and he built there an altar to the LORD.”            1 Samuel 7: 15-17


His spiritual authority over a nation, although not a king himself, was well respected, but as he became very old, the leaders looked at his sons who did not walk in the ways of the Lord, and felt it was time for a change.   
Israel Demands a King
 
1 Sam 8:1  And it came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons judges over Israel.  
 
2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in Beersheba.  
 
3 His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice.  
 
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah;  
 
5 and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.”  
 
6 But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us ” And Samuel prayed to the LORD.  
 
7 The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.  
 
8 “Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day–in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods–so they are doing to you also.  
 
9 “Now then, listen to their voice; however, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will reign over them.”
 
Warning concerning a King
 
10 So Samuel spoke all the words of the LORD to the people who had asked of him a king.  
 
11 He said, “This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots.  
 
12 “He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.  
 
13 “He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers.  
 
14 “He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants.  
 
15 “He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants.  
 
16 “He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work.  
 
17 “He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants.  
 
18 “Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”  
 
19 Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us,  
 
20 that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”  
 
21Now after Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the LORD’S hearing.  
 
22The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice and appoint them a king.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.” 

The Choosing of Saul

1 Samuel 9:2 He had a son whose name was Saul, a choice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.

 1 Sam 9: 15-16  Now a day before Saul’s coming, the LORD had revealed this to Samuel saying,  “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over My people Israel; and he will deliver My people from the hand of the Philistines For I have regarded My people, because their cry has come to Me.”
Saul was a most handsome man, more so than all the sons of Israel.  He attracted others to him, much like a magnet might attract, or draw to the surface,  metal.
 
Or mettle.


There was a time I recall as a child, when my family would gather at the television set to watch the Billy Graham revivals.  He drew thousands of people and many took his words to heart.  But somewhere along the way, and I can’t say exactly when, our nation stopped taking his words to heart. As a society, we stopped governing ourselves and demanded change.   Like the Israelites, we wanted to do what was right in our own eyes.  We demanded someone who would reflect our choices to do what was right in our own eyes.
And that was what we as a nation received.  According to 1 Samuel 8:18 – “Then you will cry out in that day because of the king you have chosen for yourselves – but I will not hear you”

And there was spiritual darkness upon our land.  Dryness. Sleepiness. Discouragement.  Our choice WAS a judgment because we didn’t want to govern ourselves as a nation AND TAKE THE BLAME FOR IT.  We wanted legal rights to do the things that were right in our own eyes.

That was an era.  The era has ended.  People are rising up again, coming up out of their slumber.  We are rising up and crying out for righteousness and SEEING it come to pass as we are watching Saul (the era) die by its own sword – the sword used in battle to create new unrighteous laws, laws that served itself rather than the good of the people, and the people bought into it because of their own slumber and selfish desires – it is all being exposed.  Nobody has to do gymnastics to buy into the fact that the previous era was filled with self-serving lies and was a plot to control the world.  We SEE it.  And it is falling apart.

That is because unrighteousness cannot stand.  God will have a Bride that is pure and spotless.   And we are making ourselves ready.