Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor
Series Code: EG
Program Code: EG021714A
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00:15 Really, when we talk about David,
00:17 we're talking about Jesus 00:19 because Jesus is known as the son of David, 00:22 and David is one of the most powerful types 00:25 and allegories in his life of the Messiah. 00:29 And so really, this is a study about Christ 00:31 as much as anything. 00:33 Our study today is dealing with Securing the Kingdom. 00:37 And our goal is going to be to cover 2 Samuel 1-8. 00:44 Now when we left off last time, we realized that 00:49 there was a tremendous tragedy in the kingdom. 00:52 After 40 years of reigning, he was called, 00:56 initially, he was a good king, spirit-filled, 00:59 but Saul became proud along the way 01:01 and he started drifting further and further from God 01:05 until finally he was basically demon-possessed. 01:10 And in a massive battle with the Philistines, 01:13 Saul, seeing that he was mortally wounded, 01:16 he asked his armor-bearer if he would kill him. 01:19 The armor-bearer was afraid to do it. 01:22 He had spent his whole life protecting the king. 01:24 And not wanting the Philistines to capture him 01:28 while he was still alive and torture him to death, 01:30 Saul fell on his own sword. 01:32 And you've probably heard that expression 01:34 before "He fell on his sword." 01:37 And when the armor-bearer saw that, he fell on his sword. 01:40 And there was a great... 01:46 Great defeat in the battle that day. 01:49 The Philistines not only killed thousands of Israel soldiers, 01:53 they then annexed a number of kingdoms. 01:57 All through Saul's reign, he had pushed back 01:59 and he had fought against the Philistines, 02:01 he had reclaimed territory of Israel, 02:04 but in this one decisive battle, 02:06 the Philistines reclaimed everything 02:09 that Saul had seized back before 02:14 and they lost a lot of ground. 02:16 We'll, David doesn't know about this. 02:18 You know, they didn't have internet, 02:19 they didn't have satellite news back then, 02:21 and so David is several days away. 02:24 If you remember, David had spent a year and a half 02:27 living among the Philistines, 02:28 pretending he was working with the Philistines 02:31 when in fact he was raiding the Amalekites. 02:35 David now had gone up 02:36 as though he was going to fight against Israel 02:38 with the Philistines. 02:40 He left his family in a town called Ziklag 02:42 along with the families of all the soldiers. 02:45 And when they got back, they found out the Amalekites, 02:47 in their absence, they had sacked, conquered, 02:51 burnt the city of Ziklag, carried away David's family. 02:55 And David and his soldiers went and recovered everything. 03:00 They managed to defeat the Amalekites. 03:02 There was another big battle and hundreds were slain. 03:05 It doesn't record that David lost a single man 03:07 in that battle, 03:09 but they brought everything back. 03:11 They're in the smoldering ruins of Ziklag. 03:13 They're wondering what has become of Israel 03:15 in this battle with the Philistines. 03:17 This is where we take up our story. 03:19 And so if you go to first book... 03:22 I'm sorry, 2 Samuel 1, 03:25 it says, "Now it came to pass after the death of Saul 03:28 when David returned from the slaughter 03:30 of the Amalekites 03:32 and David had stayed there at Ziklag for two days. 03:35 On the third day," 03:36 you know how things often come on the third day Biblically, 03:39 "On the third day, behold it happened 03:41 that a man came from Saul's camp 03:43 with his clothes torn as a sign of mourning, 03:46 dust on his head, 03:47 so it was when he came to David, 03:49 he fell to the ground and prostrated himself 03:51 and David said, 'Where have you come from?' 03:54 He said, 'I've escaped from the camp of Israel.' 03:57 David said, 'How did the matter go. 03:59 What happened with the battle? 04:00 Please tell me.' 04:01 He answered, 'The people have fled from the battle. 04:04 Many of the people are fallen and dead, 04:06 Saul and Jonathan, his son are dead also.' 04:10 And David said to the young man, 04:12 'How do you know that Saul and Jonathan, 04:14 his son, are dead?' 04:16 Then the young man told him, 04:18 'As I happened by chance to be on Mount Gilboa, 04:21 there was Saul leaning on a spear 04:23 and, indeed, the chariots and the horsemen 04:25 followed hard after him 04:28 and when he looked behind him, he saw me and he said, 04:30 'Here am I." 04:31 He said, 'Who are you?' 04:32 He said 'I'm and Amalekite, one of the servants of Israel.' 04:36 He said to me, 'Please stand over me 04:38 and kill me for anguish has come upon me 04:40 but my life is still in me.' 04:42 He was wounded by the archers." 04:44 Now here's where the Amalekite starts telling a big story. 04:47 Didn't happen this way, 04:49 "So I stood over him and I killed him 04:51 because I was sure that he could not live 04:53 after he had fallen 04:54 and I took the crown that was on his head 04:56 and the bracelet that was on his arm 04:57 and have brought them here to my lord." 05:00 And David took hold of his own clothes 05:02 and tore them and so did all the men 05:04 who were with him. 05:05 Now this is really surprising, the Amalekite messenger. 05:09 You see the Amalekite, everyone knew 05:11 that David had been running from Saul for years. 05:14 Everybody knew that Saul had been trying to kill David, 05:18 and now he thinks 05:20 "I'm going to be bringing good news. 05:22 Your enemy, King Saul is dead. 05:25 In fact, here's the crown and here's the bracelet." 05:28 Evidently what happened 05:30 is when Saul was wounded, you know, 05:32 he asked his armor-bearer to kill him, he wouldn't do it. 05:35 He fell on his own sword. 05:37 The Philistines, seeing all these bodies, 05:39 they went on continuing to pursue the living enemy 05:42 and they rode right past Saul in the chaos of war 05:46 and his sons and the Amalekite coming up around sundown, 05:51 he sees the king is dead, 05:53 he sees he has fallen on his own sword, 05:55 and he thinks, "Aha! 05:58 I will get a big reward. 05:59 Rather than just keep the crown, 06:01 I will give the crown to David and the bracelet proof 06:05 because I've borne this message, 06:07 I'll get a reward, he will he happy 06:09 because, you know, after all Saul was trying to kill him." 06:12 That's the way it used to work in antiquity, 06:14 but it also not only did he get rewarded for good news, 06:16 he got punished for bad news. 06:20 And David later he says to this Amalekite messenger, 06:25 he said, "Were you not afraid to lift up your hand 06:29 and kill the Lord's anointed?" 06:32 By the way, this is probably a good place 06:34 if you wanted to take a detour 06:35 and talk about physician-assisted suicide. 06:38 But I'm not going to do that. 06:40 But I will say life is sacred 06:41 and even if a person is near death, 06:44 it doesn't mean you're supposed to dispatch them. 06:48 And David said, "This was the Lord's anointed. 06:51 Were you not afraid to kill him? 06:54 I had two chances to kill him and I didn't take it." 06:57 Evidently the Amalekite didn't know that 07:00 and evidently the Amalekite did not know 07:03 that David had just come from rescuing his family 07:07 from the Amalekites 07:09 and fighting with the Amalekites, 07:10 so it did not end well for him that day, 07:13 he didn't get the reward he was expecting. 07:17 He had one of David's soldiers kill him 07:20 because he with his own mouth testified, 07:23 "I killed the king." 07:26 And, you know, David, but it's hard for us to imagine 07:30 but David loved Saul. 07:33 You have to remember when David was a boy, 07:34 Saul was the big mighty powerful king. 07:36 He was rescuing them in battle. 07:38 He was winning against the Philistines 07:40 and he was David's father-in-law. 07:44 And so in light of all these things 07:45 and twice David said, "He is the Lord's anointed." 07:48 "And if I ever want people to respect me 07:50 for being the anointed," David thought, 07:52 "I need to respect the Lord's anointed." 07:55 And so this man, he didn't understand. 07:58 So David then commences 08:01 to write and sing a lament, a dirge. 08:05 It's a song that he writes. 08:07 And you can read about this, 08:11 it's called the song of the bow, 08:13 and it's written and says in the book of Jasher, 08:15 another extra Biblical book we don't have, 08:18 "The beauty of Israel is slain," verse 19, 08:21 the main verse of the song, "How the mighty have fallen." 08:24 You probably heard that repeated. 08:26 I don't know why they call it the song of the bow 08:28 because three times he says, "How the mighty have fallen, 08:31 how the mighty have fallen." 08:33 You know, the leaders were Jonathan 08:35 once had gone against several Philistines 08:37 and one he and his armor-bearer killed 20 08:41 and Saul had won many battles, and he was, you know, 08:43 a tall and strong, but when it says, 08:47 "How the mighty have fallen," in this lament, 08:50 you know, there is a whole book in the Bible 08:51 that is called The Lament 08:53 written by Jeremiah after Jerusalem falls, 08:55 it's called the Book of Lamentations, 08:58 a spirit-filled lament. 09:00 And in this lament, it's also talking about 09:03 how the mighty have fallen. 09:04 Here was a man, a king, chosen by God, 09:08 big, tall, strong, spirit-filled, 09:13 and little by little through selfishness 09:15 and pride, he fell. 09:18 So not only did he fall as the king, 09:20 Saul had fallen from God's plan for him 09:22 just as Adam fell in the Garden of Eden, 09:25 how the mighty have fallen. 09:27 And in this song, because of Saul, 09:30 the good fell with him. 09:33 And David then sings about Jonathan 09:35 and how he loved, you read in 2 Samuel 1:26, 09:39 "I'm distressed for you, my brother Jonathan. 09:43 You have been very pleasant to me. 09:45 Your love was to me wonderful, surpassing the love of women." 09:49 And it talks about 09:50 the pure love of friendship here 09:53 that is very rarely spoken about now, 09:57 and then he closes with how the mighty have fallen 09:59 and the weapons of war perished. 10:02 Moving on to chapter 2, now David does something 10:05 that he has not done for a while. 10:07 How did David end up in the land of the Philistines? 10:09 Because he prayed and God said run to the Philistines 10:11 or did David forget to ask God? 10:14 And he ends up spending a year and a half 10:16 in a big lie pretending he is something he is not. 10:21 Now David has come to his senses. 10:23 I think when his family was kidnapped 10:25 by the Amalekites, he did a lot of weeping then. 10:29 David said, "How did I end up here in the land of the enemy? 10:32 I was never told by God to do this." 10:33 God had been leading him all along the way, 10:36 but now he goes on his own. 10:37 It's kind of like Elijah. 10:39 You read the story of Elijah. 10:40 God says to Elijah, go do this, go do that, 10:43 he goes everywhere God says 10:45 and Lord blesses, he takes care of him, 10:47 but then Jezebel sends him a scary message 10:49 and he gets afraid, he runs for 40 days 10:53 and God says, "What are you doing here? 10:54 I didn't tell you to go here." 10:56 And so sometimes even God's people spook 10:59 and they run. 11:00 And David, now he turns back to God 11:04 and he inquires of the Lord. 11:06 I mean, you've been anointed as the king, 11:09 they now have no king, the crown princes, 11:11 the older sons of Saul, Jonathan, Aminadab, Malki Shua, 11:15 they're all dead on the battlefield, 11:17 Israel has been taken over by the Philistines, 11:20 they need a leader, but now David says, 11:23 "Maybe they don't want me. 11:24 I've been hanging out with the Philistines, 11:25 maybe I've been disqualified by my disobedience." 11:29 So he says, "Lord, do you still have a plan for me? 11:32 What do you want me to do? 11:33 Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?" 11:36 And God says, "Yes, go up." 11:38 David's very careful now. 11:39 He not only says what shall I do, he says, 11:42 when shall I go and where shall I go? 11:44 He says, "Go to Hebron." 11:46 So David takes his wives and his men 11:50 and they all go up to Hebron. 11:52 Now just a little history about Hebron. 11:57 In Hebron, it's about 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem, 12:01 it's in the land of Judah. 12:03 Before Jerusalem, it really would have been 12:05 the capital of the land of Judah. 12:08 You read several times about Abraham in Mamre. 12:11 Mamre is just a little distance from Hebron, 12:13 it's all the same region. 12:16 The word Hebron means alliance or joining together, 12:19 and it was at Hebron that the people came 12:21 and joined together with him. 12:25 It was actually one of the sons of Levi 12:26 the city is named after. 12:29 And it's been under almost continuous occupation 12:33 for thousands of years. 12:35 Here in Hebron, Abraham built an altar to the Lord. 12:38 It was at Hebron that Lot parted from Abraham 12:41 because they had so much stuff and he went down to Sodom. 12:43 It was at Hebron that God with two angels 12:47 met with Abraham and said, "I'm not going to hide from you 12:50 what I'm about to do Lot and his family." 12:53 And it was there Abraham intercedes for them. 12:56 And in Hebron is where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are buried, 13:01 so it's a very significant city. 13:03 Outside of Hebron, there was a cave 13:05 called the Cave of Machpelah, and there Abraham and Sarah, 13:10 Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah, not Rachel, 13:14 she was buried in Bethlehem, were buried. 13:17 And so the Patriarchs and their wives are there, 13:18 so it's a very significant city, 13:20 David goes there 13:21 and David from the tribe of Judah, 13:23 they had lost confidence in Saul. 13:28 The elders come to him and they anoint him king. 13:32 Now it's been a long time coming, 13:34 but I want you to notice. 13:35 David was anointed king first as a lad. 13:38 He may have been 12, 13 years old 13:40 before he even killed Goliath, 13:41 he was anointed chosen by Samuel, by God. 13:45 Now he is anointed officially, but he is only king of Judah. 13:50 And so he reigns in Hebron 13:51 for about seven-and-a-half years, 13:54 but during that time unfortunately, 13:56 Abner, who was the general for King Saul, 13:59 he is also the uncle of Saul, he decides, you know, 14:03 he doesn't want to lose his position as general, 14:06 and so he takes a young... 14:08 Well, he's not that young, he is 40, 14:10 he takes one of the sons, surviving sons of Saul, 14:12 Ish-bosheth. 14:14 How would you like to have the name Ish-bosheth? 14:16 Anyway, and so, 14:19 but he only reigned for two years 14:21 and it goes on to say there was a constant war now 14:25 between the eleven tribes that followed Saul and Abner 14:31 and only the tribe of Judah. 14:32 Judah was a very powerful big tribe. 14:34 They had really almost the whole southern territory. 14:38 The war went on, and during the war, 14:41 it says here, and this is by the way, 14:43 2 Samuel 3:1, 14:45 "David, there was a long war between the house of Saul 14:48 and the house of David." 14:49 Well, two years is not that long a war. 14:51 There was a war once called the Hundred-Year War, 14:54 but it was constant battle. 14:56 Every time they did business with each other, 14:58 there was a skirmish. 14:59 It started out with 12 men from one side 15:01 and 12 men with other, and they got into a war 15:03 and they all killed each other. 15:06 It was very unusual. 15:07 And then a battle broke out between Joab 15:09 who sort of became the general for David, 15:12 and Joab is the nephew of David, 15:14 and Abner and Ish-bosheth. 15:16 You never hear of Ish-bosheth leading anyone into battle. 15:20 He pretty much stayed home and let Abner fight the wars, 15:23 somewhat of an incompetent king, 15:26 but you read, "David grew stronger and stronger 15:31 and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker." 15:35 And in one of these battles, you need to know, 15:37 a blood feud develop 15:38 because Joab had two brothers, the general. 15:42 These are three nephews of David. 15:44 David had one sister, 15:45 those seven or eight boys of Jesse. 15:48 I think I went over that with you, 15:50 once it says seven, once it says eight, 15:52 probably one died, they had one sister, Zeruiah. 15:56 She had three boys, Joab, Abishai, and Adonijah. 16:02 Asahel rather, sorry. 16:05 And Asahel was chasing after Ahab in this battle. 16:10 Ahab is in his chariot, and he's chasing after him, 16:13 and he won't go to the right or left, 16:14 he says, "I want to get credit 16:15 for killing the general of Israel." 16:19 And Abner knows who he is and he says, "Look," 16:22 turns to the side, says, "If you want to take a trophy, 16:24 get one of these men and keep their armor." 16:26 He says, "I can't look your brother. 16:27 He is having a conversation 16:28 while he was chasing after him." 16:30 Asahel was as quick as a gazelle. 16:33 And he just runs and runs and he chases 16:34 after the chariot and he wants to kill Abner. 16:37 Abner says, "Don't do it because how could I look 16:39 your brother Joab in the eye if I kill you." 16:42 And he wouldn't listen, 16:44 and Abner who is a skilled soldier, 16:45 you don't get to be general 16:46 unless you're a pretty good fighter. 16:48 He turns back and he stabs Asahel and kills him. 16:54 And a blood feud develops, you need to understand 16:57 because later it comes up in the story. 17:01 Eventually, Ish-bosheth accuses Abner 17:06 of having an affair with one of Saul's concubines. 17:11 Abner evidently was innocent of this. 17:13 He was outraged he would even accuse him of such a thing. 17:15 He said, "How dare you say that?" 17:17 Ish-bosheth realizes that his kingdom is in jeopardy 17:20 and he is thinking Ahab wants to be King. 17:23 Abner, sorry, wants to be king. 17:25 And the way you became king sometimes 17:28 is you took your enemy's wives. 17:32 You remember the first thing that Absolom did? 17:35 When he took Jerusalem, 17:36 he slept with his father's concubines, 17:39 and that basically meant now I'm in control. 17:42 You remember when Solomon killed his brother, 17:45 it's because his brother said he wanted one of David's wives. 17:49 He said, "I know what you're up to." 17:51 Adonijah was trying to take the kingdom. 17:54 And so Abner was really upset 17:57 that he would be accused of this, 17:59 and he said, "How dare you do this?" 18:00 He says, "You didn't realize 18:01 it's in my power to hand the kingdom over to David 18:05 and you're getting weaker and weaker. 18:06 I can see where this is heading. 18:07 You're not a king. 18:09 And any hope for me 18:10 to still have position of general, 18:12 I need to enter into a league with David." 18:14 So Abner goes up to Jerusalem, 18:15 he sends a letter first to David 18:17 and he says, "Tell you what, just talk to me 18:19 and I will make a covenant with you 18:20 and I will hand the tribes of Israel over to Judah 18:24 and you'll be king over everything." 18:26 David said, "Good enough," he said, 18:27 "Except one condition. 18:29 Don't come to me 18:31 until you bring me back my wife, Michal." 18:35 Remember, David had killed 200 Philistines 18:39 to get the daughter of Saul as dowry. 18:42 Well, during the battle, Saul had now given his wife. 18:45 Saul had just declared a divorce. 18:48 David never divorced her. 18:49 He gave Michal to another man, and David says, 18:54 "Look, I want my wife back," 18:56 and a part of the reason David is doing this, 19:01 he knows in order for Israel to come to him, 19:03 they've all been following the house of Saul 19:05 for over 40 years, 42 years now. 19:08 He is kind of showing his right to the throne of Saul 19:12 in that he at least is married to one of Saul's daughters, 19:17 and so later he sort of regrets he does this, 19:19 but he gets Michal back, 19:23 he arranges a meeting with Abner. 19:25 Abner says, "Good enough," 19:27 you know, "You make me general, 19:30 I'm paraphrasing because we got eight chapters. 19:33 And David arranges so that Joab is not in Jerusalem 19:39 when he makes this covenant with Abner. 19:43 Well, Joab gets back from some expedition, 19:46 and they said, "Did you hear? 19:48 Abner was just here, he just left. 19:49 He was talking to David." 19:52 And he said, "Really?" He said, "Send for him." 19:54 And so they sent for Abner and said, 19:57 "David still wants to see you, 19:58 one more thing he forgot to cover." 20:00 Abner turns around, he comes back. 20:01 Joab takes him aside 20:03 and acts like he is going to embrace him 20:06 and stabs him for killing his brother. 20:09 This is a blood feud. 20:10 It was very common back then that once you kill 20:13 a family member, another family member 20:15 was responsible to get even. 20:19 You remember that... 20:21 I'm assuming you've read all this about 20:23 the cities of refuge. 20:25 If you accidentally killed someone, 20:26 you might have one of their kin come after you 20:28 and you would go to a city of refuge, 20:30 you're safe there 20:32 until the death of a high priest 20:33 and then you could go free. 20:34 So Abner is killed by Joab. 20:38 And basically, David says, "I can't do anything about this 20:42 because first of all they're my nephews, 20:45 these are my generals, 20:46 all the mighty men follow Joab." 20:48 And he says, "The sons of Zeruiah 20:50 are too hard for me. 20:52 There's nothing I'm going to be able to do about this." 20:54 But David mourns the death of Abner 20:57 and he wins the hearts of Israel. 20:59 And he writes another lament for Abner, 21:03 writes another song. 21:04 Well, at that point, then the elders of Israel 21:07 come to David and they say, "You're the one," 21:12 and you can read this in 2 Samuel 5: 21:14 All the elders come to David in Hebron 21:17 and they make a covenant with him in Hebron 21:19 and they anointed David king over all of Israel. 21:24 So how many anointing do we have now? 21:26 It's the third one, once as a child, 21:28 once over Hebron, 21:30 and now once over all of Israel. 21:32 Finally, he has waited a long time, 21:35 David is now 30 years old. 21:38 How old was Jesus when he was baptized? 21:41 Thirty years old. 21:42 How old was Joseph 21:44 when he began to rule over all of Egypt? 21:47 Thirty years old. 21:49 How old did you need to be 21:50 before you began to serve as a priest? 21:53 Thirty years old. 21:54 So there is some significance to this. 21:55 This is another way where David and Jesus are similar. 21:59 He finally begins his ministry as king at 30, 22:03 his complete ministry over all of Israel. 22:07 And quickly the kingdom he has welded together, 22:10 now you'll notice during the seven years 22:11 when David is king over Hebron, 22:13 over Judah, the Philistines don't fight with him 22:16 because they thought, "Oh, yeah, David, we know him. 22:17 He is our friend." 22:18 So they gave him the tribes of Judah, 22:20 that's small potatoes. 22:23 But now when David becomes the king of all of Israel, 22:27 they realize, "Wow, now he has taken Saul's place. 22:30 He is going to be a problem." 22:33 But before I get to that, 22:36 I want you to notice in 2 Samuel 5:4, 22:39 "David was 30 years old when he began to reign 22:42 and he reigned 40 years." 22:44 He reigned in Hebron over Judah 7 years and 6 months, 22:48 and in Jerusalem he reigned 33 years 22:51 overall of Israel and Judah. 22:53 Now do you find those numbers other places? 22:58 You've got 33, and 7, and 30, and 40. 23:06 Those are all numbers connected to Jesus. 23:08 Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, 23:09 Jesus was 33.5 when he died, 23:13 and Christ's ministry was 7 years among the Jews. 23:16 And these are all numbers that can be also linked 23:19 with Jesus and His ministry. 23:21 And the next thing that happened 23:22 is David is finally king. 23:23 He says, "Look, I need a capital." 23:25 Now David grew up in Bethlehem. 23:28 Not too far away was a great fortress, 23:31 but it always bothered David 23:33 that the fortress on this beautiful situation, 23:35 beautiful hill, you know, they say in real estate 23:37 what are the three rules, location, location, location. 23:42 Jerusalem is perfectly located. 23:46 Down one side, you can basically see 23:48 the Mediterranean, down the other side, 23:50 you can see the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley. 23:52 It's got springs on top of the mountain 23:54 which gives you gravity flow water. 23:55 It's just a great location for a fortress, protection. 23:59 Many years earlier, 24:01 there was a king named Melchizedek 24:05 who was king of Salem, and later they built a fortress 24:08 there better known Jerusalem and then we don't know 24:12 what became of Melchizedek, but the Jebusites, 24:15 one of the Canaanite kingdoms, they built a fortress there. 24:18 And even after Joshua and the tribes had overcome 24:22 all of the other Perizzites and the Gibeonites 24:28 and the other ites that were in the kingdom, 24:30 the termites and all of them. 24:32 They never did overthrow the Jebusites 24:36 because it was such a fortress and David, 24:40 he knew as a young man and as a shepherd 24:42 that there was a secret water shaft 24:45 that led into the city where one person 24:48 could squeeze through 24:49 and get up inside the fortress's tall walls. 24:53 And David said "I want to take the kingdom, 24:57 Jerusalem for the kingdom to be the capital. 25:00 It's going to be my fortress. 25:01 We don't want the Jebusites to have a fortress 25:03 right in the middle of our kingdom." 25:05 You don't want the devil to have a fortress 25:07 in your life and in your heart. 25:08 Don't give him a foothold. 25:11 While the Jebusites made fun of David, 25:12 they said, "Even the blind 25:14 and the lame could repel your forces 25:16 if they try to get in the city," 25:18 and so that became a proverb. 25:20 Later David said, even the blind 25:22 and the lame will not come in to the temple site 25:27 when it was built. 25:29 And so David says, "Whoever can be first 25:33 to get inside the city, 25:34 some of you know the story of the Trojan horse. 25:37 They had five men inside this big wooden gift horse 25:39 and they snuck out and they opened the gates, 25:41 then they let the whole army in." 25:43 If you could get someone on the inside, 25:46 well, David said, "If someone can sneak up 25:48 the water shaft 25:49 and open the gates for our armies at night, 25:51 we'll be able to take the city. 25:53 And Joab did it. 25:55 And he promised whoever does this, 25:56 he will be general. 25:57 While Joab was sort of already general first 25:59 since he said, "I'm going to do it." 26:00 No one argued with him and Joab did it. 26:02 So David let Joab remain general 26:04 and he was the general for David until David's death. 26:07 And he was a good general. 26:10 He didn't do a lot of things right, 26:11 but as far as generals go, Joab, fighting with David, 26:15 never lost a battle. 26:17 And those boys of Jesse were pretty tough 26:21 or that family there. 26:23 So David says, "Whoever climbs up by the way 26:26 the water shaft and defeats the Jebusites," 26:28 by the way, I'm in 2 Samuel 5:8, 26:31 "The lame and the blind who are hated by David's soul, 26:34 he shall be chief and captain. 26:36 Therefore, they say the blind and the lame 26:38 will not come into the house." 26:40 And so David, then he took the city, 26:42 he makes it the capital of the kingdom, 26:44 and you'll find some confusion in the Bible, 26:46 sometimes it will say "The city of David, 26:48 the City of David, the City of David," 26:50 and you think it's Jerusalem. 26:52 Once or twice it's talking about Bethlehem 26:55 where he was born. 26:56 They're both called the City of David, 26:58 but they're not far from each other, 27:00 so don't let that be a stumbling block for you. 27:03 So he sets up Jerusalem as his capital. 27:05 And what does Jerusalem mean? 27:07 When you are Jewish 27:08 and you tell someone Happy Sabbath, 27:10 what do you say? 27:11 Shabbat shalom. Shalom means peace. 27:15 And, you know, we say, hello, goodbye. 27:19 And when we were in New Guinea 27:22 and we are telling people goodnight, 27:24 we heard the conference president say, 27:25 go to sleep, we're driving down the road, 27:28 he's calling out the window, go to sleep, go to sleep. 27:31 With him, it's like a parent telling all his kids 27:32 go to sleep he said 27:34 "No, that is Pisin for good evening." 27:38 But we've got hello, goodbye. 27:40 In Hawaii and you say aloha, hello, or goodbye. 27:43 In Hebrew, shalom could be a greeting, 27:47 shalom could be parting. 27:48 It basically means peace. 27:50 Jeru means "city of" 27:52 and so Jeru-shalom means City of Peace. 27:56 And it becomes the capital 27:57 which is later a symbol for Jesus 28:00 who will be the king of the New Jerusalem 28:03 that you see in the end of the Bible. 28:05 So all of this is connected. 28:08 We've a new son of David 28:10 that will be the king of the New Jerusalem. 28:13 And so he subdues all the nations around him. 28:16 When he gets settled in the kingdom, 28:19 it tells us that Hiram, 28:20 the king of Tyre sends messengers. 28:22 Tyre was like the capital city for the Phoenicians 28:27 and is a very wealthy city through Biblical history. 28:30 David enters into a league with them. 28:32 The king of Tyre does not like the Philistines either. 28:35 And so they enter into a league and he says, 28:38 "Look I'm going to send you materials 28:40 because Tyre is at the foot of the mountains of Lebanon, 28:43 they've got all these great cedar trees 28:45 and building material up there. 28:47 Jerusalem, all they got is stones 28:50 and they wanted some lumber and timber to build a palace, 28:52 and so now David has got a palace, 28:55 he has got a capital, he builds it. 28:57 You can read there where it says that 28:58 he built the city around... 29:02 It says from the Millo, and that means the ditch, 29:05 there was this outer ditch, and they built up the city, 29:08 makes a strong capital there. 29:10 And then you read in verse 12, 29:11 "David knew the Lord had established him 29:14 as king over Israel 29:16 and he exalted his kingdom 29:18 for the sake of his people of Israel." 29:20 He knew that he had done it for the sake of his people. 29:23 Well now, when the Philistines heard that 29:25 David had settled in the kingdom, 29:27 they go to war. 29:29 And now David has a series of victories 29:31 subduing the nations around him. 29:34 2 Samuel 5:17, "When the Philistines heard 29:37 that they had anointed king over Israel, 29:40 all the Philistines went up to search for David. 29:44 And David heard it 29:45 and he went down to the stronghold. 29:48 So David went to Baal-perazim and David defeated them there." 29:52 And that's the first battle, 29:53 and this is all of the Philistines, 29:55 it's not a skirmish, it's a major battle. 29:57 "Then the Philistines went up once again 29:59 and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim." 30:02 And you read in 2 Samuel 5:25, 30:06 "And David so did as the Lord commanded him. 30:09 He drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer." 30:12 Now in both these battles, you'll find that 30:15 David is again saying, 30:16 "Lord, what do you want me to do? 30:18 What do you want me to do? 30:19 How do you order the battle?" He is enquiring of the priests. 30:23 And so he's spending a lot of time 30:25 depending on the Lord. 30:26 So principal enemies defeated the Philistines. 30:30 They retake the cities, Israel retakes the cities 30:33 that they lost in the battle with Saul. 30:37 And eight years have gone by at this point. 30:41 He is becoming very prosperous, they're able to start taxing 30:44 instead of them paying taxes or tribute to the Philistines. 30:48 The Philistines now are paying tribute to them. 30:52 The Philistines had iron, 30:53 David is getting the iron works of the Philistines, 30:55 he's making good armaments and metal swords. 30:59 Before all they had were bronze swords. 31:01 You can read about that here. 31:04 Now after he's becoming settled, 31:05 where does David's heart go next? 31:08 He's thinking, "Here I am, I'm in a palace, 31:11 I'm in the capital city, I'm king. 31:13 Things are going great. 31:15 And the ark of God 31:17 and the temple of God is tattered." 31:20 They have been patching the tabernacle 31:22 that Moses built in the wilderness, 31:24 several hundred years have gone 31:25 by all through the time of the judges, 31:27 the ark of God, the golden candlestick, 31:31 the golden table, they altar of incense, 31:33 all of these sacred things, they're going to a tent. 31:37 He said, "Look, we are a significant kingdom now. 31:38 All these other kingdoms have temples for their gods, 31:41 we got a tent for our God. 31:43 We can do better than this." 31:44 And so his passion is to bring the ark to Jerusalem. 31:49 But David in his haste, 31:52 he doesn't consult the scriptures. 31:54 The priests don't consult the scriptures. 31:57 The last time the ark moved, how many of you remember 32:01 when during the time of Samuel, 32:05 the ark was captured 32:07 and a bunch of plagues come on the Philistines. 32:10 And finally, the Philistines, "Let's get rid of this thing. 32:13 It's plaguing us." 32:15 So they take the ark and they put it on a cart 32:18 with a couple of oxen, and they say, 32:20 "If this is God's doing, the oxen will take the cart 32:23 by themselves unattended and bring it to Israel." 32:27 So the last time the ark is moved, 32:28 it's on the back of an ox cart. 32:31 That's because the Philistines don't know any better. 32:34 And so God doesn't do anything. 32:37 And during that time, some people actually, 32:39 of Israel, they peek into the ark 32:42 and all these terrible things happen. 32:45 So David doesn't realize it's a problem 32:48 and he says, "Look, let's bring the ark to Jerusalem." 32:49 And he has a big celebration, he brings out the band, 32:52 they put the ark on a cart. 32:55 And they're bringing it up towards Jerusalem. 32:56 And when they come, this is 2 Samuel 6:6. 33:01 "When they came to Nachon's threshing floor, Uzzah," 33:04 one of the priests, 33:06 "Puts out his hand to the ark of God 33:09 and took hold of it for the oxen stumbled." 33:12 He said, "Well, it started to shake on the cart. 33:14 It's rough ground." 33:15 And the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah 33:18 and God struck him there for his error 33:20 and he died by the ark of God. 33:24 And David became angry 33:25 because of the Lord's outbreak against Uzzah. 33:27 And he called the name of the place 33:29 Perez Uzzah to this day. 33:31 And David was afraid of the Lord that day 33:33 and he said, 'How can the ark of the Lord come to me?'" 33:35 Now David's... 33:38 You ever been mad at God? 33:43 Sometimes people go through terrible tragedies, 33:45 they're angry at God. 33:46 Have you ever met anybody angry at God? 33:50 Maybe you won't admit it, 33:51 this says your David was angry at God. 33:53 He says, "Dear Lord, I thought I was doing this for you. 33:55 I'm bringing the ark up to Jerusalem, 33:56 it'll be the center of the capital 33:58 and praising the Lord, we had the priests." 34:02 And then later he feared the Lord. 34:04 Well, finally he realized this did not happen 34:07 because God didn't love the nation, 34:10 they had disobeyed and there was a consequence. 34:13 Nobody was supposed to touch the ark. 34:15 Read in the book Numbers 4:15, 34:18 "And when Aaron and his sons 34:19 had finished covering the sanctuary 34:21 and all the furnishings of the sanctuary," 34:23 whenever they transported things, 34:24 they cover it. 34:26 "When the camp is set to go, then the sons of Kohath 34:28 shall come to carry them, 34:30 but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die." 34:35 Do not touch it. 34:36 This is why they had poles going through the ark 34:39 to bear it. 34:41 Little trivial question, how many priests 34:44 were supposed to carry the ark? 34:49 We don't know. 34:51 Sometimes you're gonna see artists 34:52 that are painting one priest on the four corners 34:55 each holding the pole, 34:57 sometimes you'll see where they had three, 35:00 there's twelve priests meaning three on each pole, 35:04 four times three, right? 35:07 I think it may have been eight, 35:09 and I'll tell you why in just a minute, 35:10 but we're not exactly sure. 35:12 The ark was heavy. 35:14 If you ever see a picture where there's four men 35:16 carrying the ark, 35:17 you won't want to do that very long 35:19 and you remember one time you have four priests 35:20 that we're standing in the Jordan River 35:22 as all the people several million crossed over 35:25 as if that was gold, it was like a boat anchor. 35:28 And so I didn't mean that disrespectfully, 35:32 I meant it was heavy. 35:35 So they weren't supposed to touch it. 35:36 Finally, David has the priest look, 35:39 he's wondering what's going on 35:40 because they take the ark, when Uzzah dies, 35:42 they don't want to take it any further 35:43 and the closest person is a guy named Obed-Edom. 35:46 And they said, "We're leaving it here." 35:50 Well, for three months, the ark is at the house of Obed-Edom 35:52 and it says, "God blesses everything that he has." 35:56 His Servants are blessed, his produce is blessed, 35:58 his house is blessed, his family is blessed, 35:59 all these blessings come on Obed-Edom 36:02 because the ark is there, he's probably terrified. 36:04 The last guy to touch this thing died 36:05 and now you've got the ark with me, 36:06 what's gonna happen? 36:08 Well, God blesses them. 36:10 So Obed-Edom remembered when, 1 Samuel 6:19, 36:14 it says, "The Lord struck the men of Beth Shemesh 36:16 because they looked in the ark. 36:18 He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, 36:22 and the people lamented 36:23 because the Lord had struck the people 36:24 with a great slaughter." 36:25 Because the people in this town 36:27 dared to open the ark and look inside. 36:30 And so now the ark is left 36:31 at this guy's house and he's afraid. 36:33 God says, "Don't be afraid. 36:34 If you don't touch it, everything's okay," 36:35 and he blesses him. 36:37 David's thinking, "I want to be blessed. 36:39 What's happening?" 36:40 And the priest do a little Bible study 36:42 and they say, this is the most important national treasure, 36:47 you are not supposed to touch it, no one is... 36:49 We don't every want anyone accused of altering 36:52 the Ten Commandments. 36:54 What's the most important document for American citizens? 36:58 The US Constitution of the United States. 37:01 Any of you been to see that? 37:03 It's at the Rotunda of the National Archives. 37:06 There is a picture on the screen. 37:08 It is an alarm cased special 37:12 vacuum temperature-controlled environment 37:15 that is highly guarded because why? 37:20 It's got the foundational documents, 37:22 it's to be protected, not only do we not want 37:24 anyone changing it, 37:25 there's something sacred about it. 37:28 Well, the ark was written by the finger of God, 37:31 no man was to touch that 37:33 once it was placed by Moses in the ark. 37:35 So David finally reads. 37:38 And if you look, he now moves the ark, 37:41 you might say this is ark moving 2.0. 37:44 He wants, once again, to move the ark 37:46 and get it up to Jerusalem. 37:47 So I'm going now to 1 Chronicles, 37:49 you realize that Chronicles and Samuel 37:52 has a lot of overlap. 37:54 1 Chronicles 15:11, "And David called for Zadok 37:58 and Abiathar the priests," that's two, 38:00 "And for the Levites," 38:02 and this is from the tribe of Kohath I think, 38:04 "Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab." 38:11 So that adds up to eight. 38:13 That's why I thought there might be eight. 38:14 He said, "You are heads of the fathers' 38:17 houses of the Levites. 38:18 Sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, 38:20 that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel 38:24 to the place that I have prepared for it. 38:26 For because you did not do it the first time 38:29 the way the Lord prescribed, 38:32 the Lord our God broke out against us," 38:34 that means Perez, "because we did not consult Him 38:37 about the proper order." 38:39 Now in the service in the worship of God, 38:42 does God tell us in His word how things should be done? 38:45 Is he particular? 38:48 Does anyone want to end up like Uzzah? 38:52 Some people think, "Oh, you know, it doesn't matter 38:54 how you do it as long as your heart's right." 38:56 Well, Uzzah's heart might have been right 38:58 when he reached up to study the ark, 39:00 but God said don't touch it or you'll die. 39:03 And they weren't doing what God had commanded. 39:05 And it took someone dying before they finally said, 39:08 let's read and find out again 39:09 we've forgotten what God's Word says. 39:13 And David said, this is why it happened, 39:14 he broke out against us 39:16 because we didn't do it the way God said. 39:18 You won't read that in Samuel but it explains in 1 Chronicles 39:21 what David said, he finally recognized it. 39:24 So now when he brings the ark up, 39:26 he's not holding back. 39:28 He says, "God's gonna bless, we're doing it the way He said, 39:31 and there's a great celebration." 39:33 David wanted all the glory to go to God, 39:36 he takes off his royal vestments 39:39 and he puts on a simple linen ephod. 39:41 He doesn't want the attention to go to Him. 39:43 He wants the attention to go to God. 39:45 And so there is this parade, there's music, 39:47 they're playing instruments that David has made, 39:49 and this great procession is bringing it up 39:52 from Obed-Edom to Jerusalem 39:54 to a place that God had prepared, 39:56 there was just a big... 39:58 Jerusalem is a fairly new capital. 40:01 He's expanded the city, there's some blank area, 40:03 they set up the ark under a tent in Jerusalem now. 40:08 And David's lifelong dream is to build a temple. 40:11 We'll get to that in another chapter. 40:14 And so he's so happy, he's brought the ark there, 40:15 the ark is with him, God's presence is with him. 40:17 David loved the Lord. 40:19 And just the idea that he could look at it 40:20 and say, "There's the presence of God." 40:22 That brought him so much joy. 40:24 So finally, and this is our last segment 40:28 we're gonna cover. 40:30 And this was also our opening, our scripture reading. 40:34 Now the scripture reading came from Chronicles, 40:36 now we're reading it in 2 Samuel. 40:40 David is sitting in his house, and he's looking at 40:44 the ark of God out there, and he's thinking about God 40:47 and building a temple to God. 40:49 And the Prophet Nathan is sent to him. 40:51 And then Prophet Nathan goes to him 40:54 and he speaks to him and a message comes from God. 40:57 He says, "Now therefore say to my servant David, 40:59 thus says the Lord of Hosts." 41:01 This is called the Davidic covenant. 41:04 The Davidic covenant is one of the most important 41:07 covenants in the Bible 41:09 because it explains the line of the Messiah. 41:12 "Say unto David my servant, thus says the Lord of Hosts, 41:15 I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, 41:19 to be ruler over My people over Israel. 41:22 And I have been with you wherever you have gone." 41:26 Now did Jesus say to us I am with you always?" 41:29 Isn't that encouraging that what He said to David 41:31 He says to us. 41:33 "I've been with you wherever you have gone 41:34 and I've cut off all your enemies from before you," 41:37 and God will do that for us, 41:39 "And I've made you a great name." 41:41 Does Jesus give us a new name? 41:44 "Like the name of the great men who are on the earth." 41:48 And you can read, go into verse 12, 41:52 "When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, 41:57 I will set up your seed after you 41:58 who will come from your body 42:01 and I will establish his kingdom. 42:03 He will build me a house for my name, 42:06 and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 42:10 I will be His Father, and he will be My son. 42:13 If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him 42:15 with the rod of men 42:17 and with the blows of the sons of men." 42:20 Now before I go on, before I read any further here, 42:25 I just want to pause. 42:26 Who is this prophecy talking about? 42:29 He says, of your sons that come from you. 42:33 It says, I will establish his kingdom, 42:35 he will build me a house for my name 42:37 and I will establish his throne of His kingdom forever. 42:43 Solomon, Jesus, both? 42:46 This is what you would call a dual prophecy in the Bible. 42:49 How do we know it's talking about Jesus? 42:51 Does Jesus say, "Destroy this temple 42:54 that is made with hands and in three days 42:56 I will make one without hands?" 42:59 And they said, "Oh, it took 46 years 43:00 to build this temple." 43:02 But he wasn't talking about the temple 43:03 that was right there. 43:04 When He made that prophecy, he spoke of His body. 43:08 Christ built a house. He built a temple. 43:12 The Bible says, "Don't you know that you are the temple of God. 43:15 The church is a temple of God." 43:17 The Bible says, "The evil one, the wicked one 43:19 sits in the temple of God showing himself he is God." 43:22 That's talking about the Antichrist 43:24 in the position of God. 43:25 And so first and foremost, this is a prophecy about Jesus, 43:29 but did Solomon, the son of David, 43:31 build the house? 43:32 Was he a great king? 43:34 And it even compares Jesus to Solomon in many ways. 43:37 He was a great wise wealthy king 43:39 with great glory and splendor. 43:41 All types of Christ who is the son of David. 43:44 But then it goes on and says, 43:45 "And if he sins, if he commits iniquity, 43:49 I will chasten him with the rod of men, 43:51 with the blows of the sons of men." 43:53 Was Solomon ever beaten with blows or rods? 43:57 Did Solomon sin? 43:59 But was Jesus the Son of David beaten 44:02 because of our sins. 44:04 And so this again is an allusion 44:06 to both Solomon and David. 44:10 But my mercy will not depart from him 44:13 as I took it from Saul who I removed from before you. 44:17 Is it possible to grieve away the Spirit of God 44:19 and have his mercy removed? 44:21 He says, it was from Saul, it will not be from your house. 44:25 Now were there are several sons of David 44:27 that were good kings? 44:29 Hezekiah? Uzzah? 44:33 There were some that were good kings. 44:34 Solomon, most of the time. 44:36 Were there some sons of David that were bad kings? 44:39 You know, were they chastened? 44:41 It says I'll chasten them with the sons of men. 44:44 God allowed different armies to come in and punish them. 44:46 Grandson of David Rehoboam, Egyptians came in 44:50 and just defeated them and put them under tribute. 44:54 But he said, "I'll not take my mercy away." 44:57 In other words, God preserved the line of David, 45:00 the devil tried to destroy the line of David. 45:02 You remember perhaps reading in the Bible 45:04 where this wicked queen Athaliah, 45:07 when her son was dead, he was Joram, 45:11 was not a good king, but he was a relative of David. 45:14 Athaliah, pagan queen, 45:16 she killed all of her grandchildren trying to... 45:20 The devil was trying to wipeout the line of David 45:22 but one escaped. 45:23 Why did that one boy Joash escape? 45:26 Because God had made a promise that the Messiah 45:28 would come through the line of David. 45:30 How does the New Testament begin? 45:33 And chapter 3 of Luke also, it says, 45:36 the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David. 45:41 And it begins to trace Christ back from David 45:44 because David was the great king 45:46 who was a type of Jesus the king of kings. 45:50 Let's face it. 45:51 It's not always easy to understand everything 45:53 you read in the Bible. 45:55 With over 700,000 words contained in 66 books, 45:58 the Bible can generate a lot of questions. 46:01 To get Biblical straightforward answers, 46:03 call into Bible Answers Live, 46:05 a live nationwide call-in radio program 46:08 where you can talk to Pastor Doug Batchelor 46:10 and ask him your most difficult Bible questions. 46:13 For times and stations in your area, 46:15 or to listen to answers online, visit BAL.AmazingFacts.org. 46:31 You've probably heard the expression before, 46:32 if you don't like the weather in Texas, 46:35 just wait, it'll change. 46:36 And you've also heard everything is bigger in Texas, 46:39 the ranches, the belt buckles, the cowboy hats, 46:43 but the most famous slogan about Texas 46:45 is "Remember the Alamo." 46:51 The violent battles and bravery of iconic heroes 46:54 have been the stuff of legends 46:55 throughout which entire cultures 46:57 often draw on their identity and pride 46:59 even long after centuries have passed. 47:01 And in Texas, the story of the Alamo 47:04 has been a rallying cry of Texas' independence 47:06 for 200 years. 47:08 One reason that Texans love to brag 47:10 that everything is bigger in Texas 47:12 is of course because Texas is the largest 47:14 of the lower 48 US states. 47:17 It's hard to believe that this massive state 47:19 got its beginning in a very small Christian mission 47:23 during the Battle of the Alamo. 47:25 Every year, this famous mission museum 47:27 receives over 2.5 million visitors 47:30 from all parts of the planet that are eager 47:32 to get a good look at this legendary sight. 47:35 The Alamo played a critical role 47:37 in the Texas Revolution. 47:39 In December, 1835, Texans and Tejano volunteers 47:43 battled Mexican troops courted in the city, 47:46 forcing General Martin de Cos to surrender. 47:49 The victorious volunteers then occupied the Alamo 47:52 and strengthened its defenses. 47:55 Famous Americans, like David Crockett, Jim Bowie, 47:57 Colonel William Travis made this location, 48:00 this ancient mission, the beachhead, 48:02 the last stand in an epic battle 48:05 to win independence of Texas from Mexico. 48:08 On February 23rd, 1836, 48:11 the arrival of General Antonio Lopez Santa Anna 48:14 nearly caught them by surprise. 48:16 Undaunted, the Texans and Tejanos 48:19 prepared to defend the Alamo. 48:21 For this small ragtag group of rebels, 48:23 the youngest of who was about 16 and the oldest 75, 48:26 was against the well-trained and organized Mexican army 48:29 of 6,000 plus soldiers. 48:31 It was a fierce and lopsided battle, 48:34 yet the small force of rebels was able to repel the troops 48:37 for 13 days. 48:40 Legend holds that with the possibility 48:42 of additional help fading, 48:44 Colonel Travis drew a line in the ground with a sword 48:47 and asked any man willing to stay and fight 48:49 will step over the line. 48:51 All except one crossed over. 48:54 The final assault came before daybreak. 48:56 On the morning of March 6th, 1836, 48:59 the 13th day of the siege, 49:01 cannon and small arms fire from inside the Alamo 49:04 repelled several Mexican attacks. 49:07 Regrouping Santa Anna soldiers scaled the walls 49:10 and rushed into the compound. 49:12 The desperate struggle continued 49:14 until the defenders were overwhelmed. 49:16 By sunrise, the battle had ended 49:19 and the garrison was slain. 49:21 You know, historians may debate some of the details 49:23 regarding the battle of the Alamo 49:25 but none of them question the incredible sacrifice 49:27 that was made and the courage that was displayed 49:29 during that intense conflict. 49:31 They made the ultimate sacrifice 49:34 giving their lives, 49:35 and this is why the story of the Alamo 49:36 is so inspiring and so encouraging. 49:39 You know, and that's why 49:40 the Bible is so inspiring, friends, 49:42 because someone was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice 49:45 and give His life so that you can have freedom 49:47 and eternal life. 49:49 Don't you think you could trust your life to a friend like that 49:51 that would give everything? 49:53 The story of the Gospel is a story of courage and hope, 49:56 it's a story of a God who will never leave you 49:58 without defense and support. 50:00 Jesus is the good news 50:02 and the Gospel is a story worth remembering. 50:21 Can't get enough Amazing Facts Bible Study? 50:24 You don't have to wait until next week 50:26 to enjoy more truth-filled programming. 50:28 Visit the Amazing Facts media library at AFTV.org. 50:33 At AFTV.org, you can enjoy video and audio presentations 50:38 as well as printed material all free of charge, 50:41 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 50:44 right from your computer or mobile device. 50:46 Visit AFTV.org. 50:54 Amazing Facts Changed Lives. 51:01 When I was 15, I bought my first bag of marijuana 51:05 out of curiosity. 51:06 And from the age of 15 on to 23 was a constant experimentation 51:13 with different substances. 51:15 By the time I was 23, there was not a drug 51:17 I had not tried. 51:19 I had worn myself out searching for happiness. 51:22 And one day I came home tired as usual 51:26 and I started drinking. 51:28 And as usual after I started drinking, 51:31 I started looking for a higher buzz. 51:35 Someone came by with some Xanax, 51:39 someone also came by with something else 51:42 that I liked, and that was cocaine. 51:45 This time, not thinking, I took the whole thing. 51:48 So I went to bed about 5:00 in the afternoon. 51:51 My roommate went off to work that night. 51:54 When he came back from work the next day though, 51:57 he noticed something was wrong 'cause I was still in bed 52:00 in the same position. 52:02 He tried to wake me up and he couldn't wake me up. 52:06 When my parents found me, they found me 52:10 curled up in the fetal position in my hospital room, 52:14 unconscious still. 52:16 And I stayed unconscious in this coma-like state 52:20 for the next week. 52:21 I stayed the next month in the hospital 52:24 slowly getting better to where I could sit up in bed 52:29 and I had to learn to walk again. 52:31 But my parents found this one facility 52:34 out in the hills of Tennessee, 52:36 I had to admit that I liked the place, 52:40 but they were Christian, and even worse than that, 52:43 I said yes when they asked me 52:45 if I wanted to go to church that week. 52:47 Before the pastor said the benediction, 52:49 I was so excited 52:50 because I was planning my escape. 52:52 And so after everybody was all in bed that night, 52:55 I made sure that they were snoring 52:58 and that they were asleep, 53:00 I went into the kitchen and stole a few bananas, 53:03 got my backpack ready, 53:05 I figured I can get sober on my own. 53:08 My favorite song was I did it my way, of course, 53:12 my definition of sober was a nice supply 53:17 of marijuana each day and alcohol on the weekends. 53:20 And of course, if I had a bad hangover, 53:23 I might need some of those relaxing pills to take, 53:26 but other than that, that would be it. 53:29 So here I am stranded on the street 53:32 in the big city of Houston. 53:33 My bag of clothes is gone, my cell phone was gone, 53:37 my wallet, my bus ticket's gone, 53:39 I don't have anything but the shirt on my back. 53:42 It's at that point that this man comes up to me, 53:45 this mysterious man, he's actually very short 53:48 and appears to be homeless, and he led me to some food 53:51 and even a place to stay that night. 53:54 Looking back, it is my firm conclusion 53:58 that that was an angel. 53:59 So my dad was able to come down to Houston 54:02 and pick me up and take me back up 54:04 to the health retreat at Wildwood in Tennessee. 54:08 They had a satellite, on this channel 54:12 there was a man named Doug Batchelor, 54:14 I liked what I heard, 54:16 I liked the way he explained the Bible, it was so simple 54:18 and he also had an experience similar to mine. 54:22 And I talked to Lou about him and they happened to have 54:25 a whole set of cassette tapes. 54:28 I would wake up at 4:00 in the morning sometimes, 54:30 and I would get up, and I would watch 54:33 two of those videos before breakfast. 54:35 I would sit this close to the TV 54:37 watching what Doug Batchelor was saying, 54:39 just eating up every word of it. 54:41 I was so tired of hearing lies and even believing my own lies 54:45 that it was so wonderful to find something 54:48 that was solid and that I could rely on. 54:51 And so when I got home from rehab, 54:54 and in my local church, 54:57 Eric Flickinger from Amazing Facts 54:59 was holding an evangelist series. 55:01 They solidified my conviction and it was then I made 55:05 the absolute decision to follow Jesus. 55:09 I praise the Lord Jesus Christ for Amazing Facts. 55:13 I Praise God for Amazing Facts because they're so Bible based. 55:18 They send out evangelists who are willing 55:20 to teach the truth to people. 55:23 I'm thankful that they're preaching right now 55:26 all over the world changing lives 55:29 just as they changed mine. 55:33 Together we have spread the gospel 55:35 much farther than ever before. 55:38 Thank you for your support. 56:02 Have you ever heard the expression before 56:04 "They eat like a bird," talking about somebody 56:06 that has a minuscule appetite? 56:08 Well, you might want to think twice next time 56:10 you use that expression. 56:12 For example, take the humming bird. 56:14 In order for it to maintain its incredible metabolism, 56:17 it has to eat about 50% of its bodyweight every day. 56:22 To put that in perspective, if a 100-pound woman 56:25 was to eat like a hummingbird, 56:26 she would have to eat fifty pounds of sugar a day 56:29 just to maintain her body weight. 56:31 Imagine that. 56:32 Maybe you don't want to imagine that. 56:35 But perhaps, you want to consider this another way. 56:37 The hummingbird typically consumes 56:39 between four to seven calories a day. 56:41 On the other hand, a human about 3,500 calories a day. 56:45 But if you were to eat like a bird, a hummingbird, 56:48 you would have to eat over 150,000 calories a day. 56:54 But that's like a man, 170 pounds 56:56 that would be eating 3,000 Oreo cookies. 57:00 Under normal conditions, a hummingbird needs to eat 57:02 every five or ten minutes, but there's actually one time 57:05 during the year the hummingbird will eat 57:07 its entire bodyweight every day. 57:10 You see, once a year, they make this migration 57:13 of 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico 57:16 from Texas to the Yucatan Peninsula. 57:20 In order to do that, 57:21 the hummingbird feasts on nectar 57:23 and gorges themselves on this nectar 57:26 for about a week, doubling their bodyweight. 57:29 That's the only way they can store enough calories 57:31 to help them with their 70 wing beats per second, 57:35 a roughly 4 million wing beats on that journey. 57:38 You know, in the same way, friends, 57:39 as we near the end of time, we need to be feasting 57:42 and gorging ourselves on the nectar of God's Word. 57:45 We've got to be able to have that strength 57:47 to get us through the times of trouble that are ahead. 57:49 So when it comes to the Bible and your personal devotions, 57:52 if you're gonna eat like a bird, 57:54 eat like a hummingbird. |
Revised 2019-05-01