David is just every bit as righteous as Daniel, but he's all messed up in some areas. He just can't get some things right. Like Peter and like us. Anybody who says it's not true is not being honest. That's what John was writing in his first letter to the church that was being hounded by the Gnostics, who were saying, Well, we're above sin and sin doesn't really matter.
They're saying, I don't sin, because they were trying to separate the spiritual from the physical to the point where it didn't matter what you did in the physical realm, long as in your head. And of course, John slams that. Anyone who says they're not a sinner is lying. Yeah. I'm not sure if I can do it.
This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of 2 Samuel. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. 2 Samuel chapter 5 is the text Pastor Rick will be teaching from on this edition of Cross Reference Radio.
David would be good to the Jebusites after he conquered them, incidentally, a lot better than they would have been to him.
So the point I'm trying to establish for us is Those who worship is this passion for something in our faith. And we should have several passions in our faith. And when you feel them leaving, Recognize that and make the choice what are you going to do about that. Maybe you don't feel like singing.
Okay, so you take a hiatus, but you understand you got to get that back at some point because it's been given to us because we need it. God did not give the church gifts because he had extra wrapping paper. You need this, and this is why he dispatched the gifts that we have. There's much to talk about with the gifts. I do believe they are still in existence, but I don't believe that they are to be abused, and that's just a whole story.
Anyhow. It was on David's to-do list. To conquer Jerusalem. Mujebus now. It's not yet named Jerusalem, that comes later.
It goes back, though, to Melchizedek, the city of peace. It's believed the link of the word. And so he's going to settle this. But they are, of course, defying him with insults. Not only are they saying, We're going to fight you.
But they're saying We're going to use the least of our citizens. And you can't even beat them. Our handicap.
Now, of course, it's hyperbole. They're not going to actually do this, but the insult has been. has been thrown down. declaring their weaker citizens Are stronger than David and his men. And let's look it back at verse 6 again, because it's a very.
attractive phrase, that first sentence. And the king and his men went to Jerusalem. Knowing the history of it all, it's very attractive, and knowing that when they said this to David, his men were with him, and these were not the guys to say something like this to. David, he's now in the role as a leader. He's not trying to prove himself.
So when they say, You shall not come in here, but the blind and the lame will repel you, thinking David cannot come in here.
Well, of course they were wrong. And Goliath mocked David. And look what happened to Goliath. and so taunting him, By claiming that he was inferior, and he and his men. You'll never meet a Jebusite.
Unless he's lying to you. You're not a Jebel site. You're from the Bronx or something like that. Only the Jews could survive for so long without a homeland. And that's one of the reasons when you come across these names of these ancient people that are gone, the Philistines, the Jebusites, they have no homeland.
What they left. their homeland, they were assimilated into other peoples.
Well, the Jews left their homeland. They were pushed out 135, 136 years after the birth of Christ. After the temple fell, the Jews stayed in that area in Israel. And then the Bakakwa rebellion. The Romans just had it, and they just pushed them out of the land.
And out of the land they were for over 1,900 years, but they retained their ethnicity and their heritage and their religion and their language. And then they were put back in their land as never happened before. And we need to be reminded of this because the main thrust that God will say, you see my promises in the New Testament about moving mountains and stuff like that. And you find you can't do all those things. There are prayers you send up to me that are noble prayers, and I do not grant them for reasons I'm not going to tell you.
But you, the obedient servant, you keep following me anyway in defiance to Satan because of truth. And as a bonus, I'm going to remind you of something that other generations have not had. Look at Jerusalem. Look at Israel. Who's back in that land now?
Who called it? The scriptures call it, and God is saying, just trust me. I know you're suffering. I know you're getting beatdowns. It ain't going to last forever, maybe forever in this life.
But it won't be forever in your existence. And by faith, we're up and going after that.
So this is Very meaningful to we, the New Testament church, David and his men. As Christ will come back with his people. His army. Verse seven: Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion. that is, the city of David.
Very Very laconic statement. He took a city. I'm not giving any details, and thousands were killed. Yeah, he took it. You can't come in here and he's in.
Well, he warned them. With the head. And he treated again them very humanely.
Solomon will make forced laborers out of them, but even Solomon will be kind. He's going to force them to work, but he's not going to treat them as slaves. He gives them time off and things like that. That's in 1 Kings 9. Here it says Of Zion.
This is the first time we come across Zion in the scripture. The name grew to apply to not only the Temple Mount. where the temple would be built. to all of Jerusalem. to the Jewish people today, to the city of David.
There were two mountains, the prominent mountains in Jerusalem. Not just two, but One was Mount Moriah, where the temple would go, and the other was another Mount Zion. Just south of it, where David's city would go, and his palace would be built, where he looks out after Hiram sends him all sorts of nice things for his house, cedar, because most of the houses were stone and mud, and and that David all of a sudden has a cedar house, and everybody in the neighborhood wanted one. But anyway, it becomes David's city, and it is worth seeing. Many things are open about it to tour.
to this day. The City of David Bethlehem will also be called a city of David. You have to understand the context of how the writers are using these things, and that's in Luke's Gospel, chapter 2.
So anyway, the city of David I don't think there's anything else I have to add to that. Verse five, but there's more here.
Now David said on that day, whoever climbs up by the way of the water shaft and defeats the Jebusites, the lame and the blind, who are hated by David's soul, he shall be chief and captain. It says there's some humor in there, right? Therefore, they say, the blind and the lame shall not come into the house. And so they didn't let that go.
So Davis is all here? Hey, whoever can go up and defeat the lame and the blind gets to be commander. And then it became this.
Sort of an idiomatic proverb amongst the people. Yeah, well, you know, the blind and the lame can't come in here, which meant that. Yeah, they can once conquered.
So He says there's a shaft there to this day. Many of these water shafts and canals underground and above, but this one was subterrain. like a chimney, a shaft coming out with a water table down below. And the tunnels, the water's wasn't always up to the top. You could, you know, wade through it up to your knees or your waist.
And to this day, you go to Hezekiah's tunnel, you just wade through the water. It gets boring after about First 20 minutes, like, oh, look, more water and rock in the dark. But at very pl I would recommend it. I really would. Anyway, Joab is the guy.
1 Chronicles 11. We're not told here, but. 1 Chronicles gives us a parallel account.
Now, David said, Whoever attacks the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. And Joab, the son of Zariah, went up first and became chief.
So Joab, out of my way, because he wants to be the commander. And everybody moved out of his way because he stabbed them. And so I How does he get up that chimney? Did he have like a folding ladder?
However he did it, it was impressive. He gets up. Climbs up, the others are following, I'm sure. They open the gate for the larger force to come in, and the Jebusites were just shocked and defeated. The blind and the lame.
Again, referring to their citizens became an epitaph mocking them. It backfired. Verse 9, then David went in the stronghold, and called it the City of David. And David built all around The millo And inward, and that's Believed to have been Fortifications, Solomon and Hezekiah will build them up. Hezekiah will repair them, Solomon will build them up even more.
Verse 10.
So David went on and became great. And Yahweh God of hosts was with him, And so, you know, you like that, right? David went on and became great. And he did. Yahweh, God of hosts.
That means he's the commander of the armies. His armies, on earth and in the spiritual realm. Or you would we would say in in heaven and on earth. Verse eleven Then Hiram, king of Tyra, sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters and masons, and they built David a house.
So David knew that Yahweh had established him as king over Israel. And that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel. Boy, there's a lot there.
Well Hiram is believed to have been a new king also. And he wants a friendship with David, and he gets one. He retains the friendship with Solomon. They have joint ventures that they get involved with.
So David now has got this cedar house, and all the moths were disappointed with this new development. Yeah. But he's come a long way from sleeping under the stars and in caves and in a hand-me-down zig lag town.
Now he's getting a palace. And Not yet, but later he will say to the prophet Nathan, This is just not right. I've got it pretty good, but The place of the ark. It has no house. God's presence should have something greater than this.
But he's enjoying now the fruits of obedience and endurance. The day did come. Remember, it was not long ago. He says, Oh, he's one day going to get me, he's going to kill me. And God said, No, he's not.
And now he's still relatively young? And verse 13: And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem after he had come from Hebron, also more sons and daughters who were born to David. Maybe somebody in Hebron said, What's wrong with the girls here? How come you went to Jerusalem and you added all these wives? Not a good thing.
Kings in their harems. It reminds us, it's all through history, no getting away from it. It reminds us of the fallen nature that belongs to us all. that they are righteous and they are unrighteous and sometimes it gets sticky. We remember as Christians That, as Paul said it, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slaved nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
Christ is all And in all of his believers, no longer those things. Your ethnicity. Fades. And what becomes prominent is your citizenship in heaven. And that comes very easy when you're filled with the Spirit.
Because you just read, there's nothing in this life to hold on to. I'm trying to hold on to the things of the next life. It is not an insult to one's ethnicity. If you were Scottish, you're still Scottish. If you're Polish, whatever it is, but your primary citizenship is not here.
And if that ever becomes an issue, you are automatically wrong. You are Christian. And that's what a lot of the Jews today don't understand, even the Masonic Jews. You're really not. Jewish anymore.
It's no longer. It says it right here. You're Christian, not acting like you're an A-class Christian and I'm B-class.
Some of them do roll that way, and you just have to just uh you know. I got my faults too, and it's pointing out other people's faults. Yeah. Stop criticizing me for criticizing you. Anyway, the status of kings in those days measured by their harems.
And even though David was the exception, Still, the commandment was. You're not to multiply wives and horses as king. And you're to read the word, you're to copy the laws of Moses. David. You know, grateful that he's a man of God.
He knows Deuteronomy. He also would have known. where his prohibitions were, And so that's how it was. At times, He failed God, but God never failed him. God never disowned him.
See, I have a harder time identifying with Daniel sometimes. Because he's just Daniel's so clean. And he's just so, you know, as men go, he's just so honorable. David is just every bit as righteous as Daniel, but he's all messed up in some areas. He just can't get some things right.
Like Peter. And like us. Anybody who says it's not true is not being honest. That's what John was writing in his first letter to the church that was being hounded by the Gnostics who were saying, well, we're above sin and sin doesn't really matter. They're saying, I don't sin, because they were trying to separate the spiritual from the physical to the point where it didn't matter what you did in the physical realm, long as in your head.
And of course, John slams that. Anyone who says they're not a sinner is lying. Verse 14.
Now These are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem.
Now the first guy sounds like he's a whale. I mean, Shamua, I mean, you know, how can you not make that association? Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon, those are all Bathsheba's children, which is again the mercy of God. I like to believe Nathan was named after the prophet Nathan. who busted David.
So again, they have the child, the first child dies. They have other children. After Nathan calls David out. And still, David names and Bathsheba name one of their sons after the prophet Nathan, instead of holding a grudge. Is very beautiful.
Then we have Ibhar and Elishua, Nepheg, and Jafia. Hmm. Verse 16, Elishima Eliada and Eliphalet. That one's not very but there's one missing. And I'm sure you want to know what his name is.
I'm sure you do. Is no gaze. And that's in 1 Chronicles 3. All right, we did that. Verse 17.
Now, the Philistines say, what does that have to do with anything?
Well, these are real people, real souls, and they are very likely in heaven. More sons to come. Verse 17.
Now when the Philistines heard that They had anointed David king over Israel. All the Philistines went up to search for David, and David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. The Philistines, of course, are the enemies. They represent our troubles in life, those things that attack us. and for a type.
They came to pick a fight. They're thinking, let's go nip this new king in the bud, show him who's boss. We'll do to him what we did to Saul, and they are going to be wrong. They're threatened by David for taking Zion, for his friendship with Hiram.
So now they think now is the time to act. And they're going to pay for it. Verse 18, the Philistines also went and deployed themselves in the valley of Rephaim. Of course, that's where Joshua beat the Amalekites and Moses holding his arms up and praying for them. And they sat him on a rock when he got wearied, and they held his arms up.
Same battlefield. And that had to factor into David's thinking. Because he knew the books of Moses. It's evident from his life. Verse 19.
So David inquired of Yahweh, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hand? And Yahweh said to David, Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hands. Hmm. Always dependent on God when it came to war, no question.
I don't think this is the Urim and the Thumim being used because there's details that you can't get unless there's something we don't know, which I think this may be the prophets are speaking to David. And made the priest a present and his war council would include the prophets, the priests, and his generals, and tribal leaders, and whoever else he felt he wanted, of scribes. Anyway, he goes to God. Shall I go off? It's a no-brainer.
They're coming into the land. Let's go get them. That's not what David does. He lives out with Solomon wrote. In all your ways, acknowledge the Lord, and he shall direct your paths.
Verse 20: So David went to Baal-Perezm, and David defeated them there. And he said to Yahweh, He said, Yahweh has broken through my enemies before me like a breakthrough of water. Therefore, He called the name of the place Baal-Parazim. is a memorial God burst through for him. Occasionally, the term Baal was used in a generic way and just as Lord.
And so it's here applied to Yahweh as Lord instead of Adonai. That's part of the language of the land. The archaeologists find writings, obelisks, and other types of tablets and things with kings' names, and they almost never spell the same way. But it's the same king. They know by the events that take place and close enough the spelling.
But you've got dialect, you've got different people from different places writing things. It's just a very busy environment in that sense, in a scribal sense, and it's no contradiction. You can trace these things.
So, a memorial for what Yahweh did for him, good for us too. Just the other day, I was remembering something God had done for me a long time ago. I mean, a lot of things, but it was one that I forgot all about that one. I felt small because. Because you know, you just get dissatisfied with things, and God reminds you: hey, remember this.
Oh. Yeah, I do. Verse 21, and they left their images there, and David and his men carried them away. They abandoned their gods on the field of battle. What is that?
Well, believers, we can do the same thing. We're not careful. And maybe it's not the battlefield. Maybe it's the lap of luxury. We can abandon our gods.
We get it so good that God becomes a routine in our prayer. That's kind of. We want some passion. Again, just because emotions can take over the ship doesn't mean we don't want emotions on the ship. They're valuable, they're critical to have.
It's passion. It's just when they start doing the thinking, it's all messed up after that, and it's very hard to go into an environment where the majority thinks with their feelings. That's how you end up with heresy, even. Anyhow. What did they do with these idols that they found?
Well, they burned them up. It helped keep the... Land pure. People saving one, like Achin did, being commanded to get rid of this, and he wants to keep it. And it would have helped idolatry, which didn't need any help.
1 Chronicles 14 in its parallel account of this battle. And when they left their gods there, David gave a commandment, and they were burned with fire.
So they did not cart them off and take them home, they got rid of them.
So David knew Deuteronomy 7:3, where those instructions are given specifically. That means he knew Deuteronomy 17:17. You can say, Oh, I didn't get that far. He would not have said that. Verse 22.
Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the valley of Rephaim. Oh, great! The enemy regroups. typical Something we've got to watch out for. It's not enough to defeat the foe in battle.
You must watch. Our victories. And it's so hard because you know, you get a victory, there's such a feeling of relief, almost euphoric. It's like, ooh, man, I can't believe God did that. It's wonderful.
Now, you're not doubling up the guards when you should be because Satan's going to just. double back. You're going to regroup many times. And so we have to be ready for the enemy's win-back attacks coming back at us again. And this is kind of drawn out for us, verse 23.
It's not just, and he defeated them. And then they deployed again. Verse twenty three. Therefore David inquired of Yahweh. And he said, You shall not go up, circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees.
So It's not a cookie cut. Response.
Well, last time I did this, it was very successful. I'll do it again. That's not what's happening. David, God has told. Howling him right out, don't do what you did last time.
He tells him: you shall not go up with a direct attack. The second engagement is different. And David was wise enough to again seek God and submit. And God gave the different tactic. Had David not asked, it could have been like Joshua at Ai.
He gets defeated on the first attack, a couple of attacks, and he's lying before God. And God tells Joshua, Get up. What are you doing before me? There's a fight to be had. It appears.
Again, that David is seeking this information from a prophet. Because how do you get detailed instructions from the lights in perfection? It doesn't seem to be the way it is.
Now, if you say, no, I think God still did it that way, that's fine. It's just, it's not practical. And just because God does miracles does not mean he abandons practical approaches. Verse 24, and it shall be when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then Yahweh will go out before you and strike the camp of the Philistines.
And so this is miraculous. He's going to add some special effects here through the mulberry trees. I don't know why troops going into war do not take mulberry trees with them. Yeah. Quick, get the arborists.
Anyway, I think it's kind of comical. You see the little boats hitting the beach, the guy's got these trees. Mm-hmm.
Okay, verse twenty five, and David did so. Amen. And Yahweh as Yahweh commanded him. Instead of abandoning him, no, no, no, no, you got that harem. I told you not to do that.
I'm not with you. This is not what happens. We got to be so careful with these things. And he drove back the Philistines from Giba as far as Gizer.
So. Overwhelming defeat spanning over 20 miles.
So that's a big deal. They were fighting. God did the miracles, but still there was a lot of sword swinging and running and getting thirsty that day. I'm not here. This has been the latest edition of Cross Reference Radio.
Pastor Rick Gaston is teaching through the book of 2 Samuel, which details the reign of David as king of Israel. There are so many life lessons to be learned during these years of David's life. We're glad you've tuned in to hear more from God's Word. This radio ministry comes to you from Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Mechanicsville, Virginia. If you're interested in accessing more messages just like this one, you can listen online or download these messages at crossreferenceradio.com.
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