Old Testament: Judges to Monarchy - Part 1

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Well, tonight we continue our "Anchored" series, and it falls my happy lot to sort of continue leading us through the Old Testament, to understand the flow of Old Testament history. But I want to begin in the New Testament. I invite you to turn with me to Romans chapter 15.

I just want to remind you that as we walk our way this evening and in the following weeks through the history of the Old Testament, there is a reason for each of us. There's benefit for each of us. Romans 15:4, Paul writes, "Whatever was written in earlier times," he's talking about the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures, "was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope." Tonight, as we walk our way through the history of the Old Testament, I will bring out some of those connections, some of the instruction that's there for us. But you should listen with that in mind as well. There is so much richness in God's revelation to us and I hope you will do that as we walk our way through the Old Testament.

We are in the middle of an aerial tour of the Old Testament, flying over its history from a great height. We're not looking at the details, but rather we're really concerning ourselves with the major movements of Old Testament history.

There are nine major movements in Old Testament history. So far, we have only considered the first four: The period of universal dealings in the first eleven chapters of Genesis; the patriarchal period, the rest of Genesis, beginning in Genesis 12 and running through the end of the book; slavery in Egypt, a large portion of Israel's history, but only one chapter, Exodus 1, describes it; the exodus under Moses, and that's the rest of the Pentateuch, basically Exodus 2 through the end of Deuteronomy.

That's where we have come so far, the exodus and the wilderness wanderings. And tonight, we come to the fifth major movement of Old Testament history, and that is the conquest and division of Canaan. It's recorded for us in the book of Joshua. The theme of Joshua, and you can see here the period of time covered. It's a relatively short period of time, from about 1406, at the end of the wilderness wandering period, until about 1390. Could be a little more than that, but around that time period. The theme is obvious of Joshua, and that is, it is the conquest and division of the land. The author is Joshua, along with others under inspiration, perhaps adding some supplementary material.

The outline of Joshua is pretty simple. You have chapters 1 to 5, entering the promised land. Chapters 6 through 12, conquering the promised land. Chapters 13 to 22, dividing the promised land. And then you have the final charge of Joshua in chapters 23 and 24.

Now, the purpose of this book is really threefold. First of all, it's clearly to show how God's promises to Israel were fulfilled. God had promised them the land through Abraham, and now He gives it to them. Secondly, it's to show that Israel failed to fully obey God and possess the land. This is revealed to us in the book of Joshua. And ultimately the Book of Joshua, back to Romans 15 we just read together, serves a spiritual lesson as well. When I was growing up, there was a hymn that likened crossing Jordan into the promised land, crossing into heaven: "On Jordan's stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye." And it was all about going to heaven. The promised land doesn't compare to heaven. It compares to something entirely different. The lesson for us from Joshua is this: God's people can overcome the world and take possession of their promised spiritual inheritance, that is, personal sanctification, provided only they trust God's strength, believe God's promises, and obey God's commands. So the promised land really doesn't represent heaven. It represents the defeat of our spiritual enemies in this life as we grow in sanctification. And there's really a series of powerful lessons in this book about that very thing.

Now, Joshua at this time is about 90 years old. Those of you thinking about retiring, give it up. Joshua's 90, and God asks him, commands him to lead Israel into the land of promise. Joshua's mission is really twofold: Destroy the Canaanites, first of all. He was to destroy the armies of the various Canaanite alliances, and that would prevent each of the cities from defending itself. Ultimately, though, it was to exterminate the Canaanite peoples. A lot of people struggle with God's command to Israel to go into the land of Canaan and to destroy everything and everyone. I love the way Doug Bookman, who's been here at this church, puts it. He says this: "Yahweh was removing a cancerous growth from the human race, and the nation of Israel was simply the scalpel in the hand of God." That's exactly what the Canaanite destruction was all about. We will see some of what they were involved in, in just a few minutes, and you can understand more why this was a command that God gave to Joshua.

Secondly, Joshua was to conquer the peoples there, conquer the land, divide the land among the twelve tribes, and then they were to settle down and dwell in the land. And Joshua was very successful. In seven years of conquest, the Canaanite armies were destroyed. The ability of the population to defend itself was broken, and the land was left ready for the twelve tribes to begin to take completely and fully for themselves. Joshua then challenges the people to possess their land, and he divides it among the tribes.

This is how it was divided. Now, just to remind you, there were obviously twelve tribes. When you look at how it was divided, it looks like this because of a sin in the days of the patriarchs: Simeon was only given cities in Judah; he wasn't given his own portion of land. In addition, Levi was given no portion. But because of his faithfulness in the time of Moses, he was the priestly tribe and was given 48 Levitical cities that were spread throughout the land. So you don't see a section for Levi here because there were 48 Levitical cities spread across the country. Dan, the tribe of Dan was originally given over near the seacoast and the area of the Philistines. But Dan refused to drive out the Philistines. So they eventually moved to the far north and took an area in the far north as their portion. Joseph got a double portion, and therefore his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, get portions of the land. So when you see no Joseph, but you see Ephraim and Manasseh, understand that those are his two sons and they get a double portion. Or he got a double portion. They each get a portion of the land. Now, Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh, you can see if you look to the right of this chart, on the east side of the Jordan Rift Valley, they settled in what's called the Transjordan, that is, across the Jordan on what would be toward the desert away from the Mediterranean. So that was the dispersion of the land. And you can see the others here. Obviously, Judah gets a prime spot.

Tragically, the twelve tribes, having been given their portion of land, miserably failed to do what God had called them to do, and that was to completely drive out the Canaanites. As a result, when Joshua died, we read these tragic words. In fact, look at them, Joshua 24. Turn there, Joshua 24:31, "Israel served the Lord," served Yahweh, "all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of the Lord which He had done for Israel." That's a tragic verse, isn't it? A tragic verse because in one generation the people depart from the Lord.

Understand this. Joshua dies in the latter part of the 1300s; 1390, maybe a little less than that, somewhere in that ballpark. By 1350 BC, before 1350 BC, Israel had turned from her God and entered the darkest period in her history in one generation.

That's a reminder to us: We don't have control over the beliefs of our children, but it's a reminder to us that we bear a heavy responsibility to pass the faith down as much as lies within our power. Because in one generation it all changed, and they entered the darkest period of Old Testament history. And that brings us to the sixth major movement in Old Testament history, the period of the judges.

This period is described in two books, Judges and Ruth, which happened during that time period. Now, what marks the period of the judges is this: Primarily, there was no national leader and there was no central government. Instead, each tribe formed its own government, and they were often at war with each other. The characteristic of this period is described in Judges 17:6, the most famous verse, and it's repeated several times in the book of Judges. It says this: "In those days there was no king in Israel," no central government, no national ruler, and "every man did what was right in his own eyes." There was widespread apostasy, widespread degeneracy, which brought a cycle of God's judgment and chastening on the nation.

Now, the purpose of the book of Judges is to do really two things. First of all: To survey Israel's history from the death of Joshua to the days of Samuel. And secondly: To serve as an apologetic to Israel of her need for a national ruler or leader. In other words, a king. This book gives you all the evidence you need to say, "God's people needed a central government, and they needed a strong leader."

And this was true before the judges. Moses and Joshua were national leaders. And after the judges, you have the kings. But the period of the judges is the darkest period of time. Now, understand who the judges were. We use that term, "judges." And in one sense, they did adjudicate, they did hear and make sure to judge the cases that came up in Israel. But really, they were local leaders, often military leaders leading a tribe or a portion of a tribe, occasionally a little more, against its marauding invading enemies. So, they're not national leaders. They're regional, local leaders who God raises up.

Now, an outline of Judges would be this: There is a prologue in chapter 1 through 3:6, that explains the reason for the period of the judges, exactly what unfolded. You ought to read that if you don't read anything else, because it explains exactly what happened. And then you have a summary of the period of the judges. That's the prologue through 3:6.

But then from 3:7 through the end of chapter 16, you don't get all of the judges; you don't get all of the detail. You have a selected history of the judges, and it is a cycle of oppression and deliverance, really, of sin, oppression and deliverance.

And then the book ends with some of the darkest chapters in all of the Old Testament. I've called it the epilogue. It really illustrates in chapters 17 to 21, both the religious apostasy of the nation, when you read about a Levite, Micah, leading the tribe of Dan in idolatry, and then you see the moral decay of the nation in that awful story of the Levites' concubine and parts of her being mailed, shipped across the nation. And then the slaughter of Benjamin. Those were dark and desperate days in the history of the nation.

Now, because Israel failed to drive out and destroy the Canaanites, two tragic sins would dog her for much of her history, as a nation. Intermarriage with the peoples of the land. You can see that in 3:5-6. Verse 5, if you'll notice, Judges 3:5: "The sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites" and all of these peoples in the land. Verse 6: "And they took their daughters for themselves as wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons," and then here's the other part of it, "and served their gods."

Idolatry. This is what happens from this period on until after the Babylonian captivity. Now, why was this so important? What was God concerned about in wiping the land of Israel clean of the Canaanites? Well, you have to understand Canaanite religion. In the Canaanite religion, the main gods were three, and I have pictures of them here in order: El, Asherah and Baal. Now, their worship was called Baal worship after the primary god, Baal, who was the god or lord of the storm and of the rain. In an agricultural society, the god who supposedly brings prosperity to your crops becomes the lead god, the most important god in your pantheon. And that was true with the Canaanites.

Their places of worship were elaborate temples, but really you could worship anywhere. There was no central sanctuary. Altars were usually set up on hilltops. Here is a picture from Dan. You remember that Jeroboam set up altars and high places. Those altars became what were known as high places. Here's one example, because it was up on a hill with a vista, they came to be called then the "high places." When you read about that in the Old Testament, that's what we're talking about. It is on a hill, and it becomes a worship place for Baal and for false gods. And these were constantly condemned by the prophets. You can see in the center of this picture, if you look carefully, there's ironwork, kind of a steel frame marking where they believe the altar stood. So, you had an altar where sacrifices were made. And these high places were originally located on or near the summit of hills in order to be closer to the gods. That was the idea.

Later, they were built as well in valleys and towns, and at each of them there was a pole, a pillar, or some other symbol that marked each site. There was typically an altar. And the worship that happened in these places was sexually centered and specifically exhibitionist. Now, I'm not going to say any more that I need to say, but I need to say this. You need to understand why God used Israel like a scalpel to remove the Canaanites. Baal and Asherah were regarded as voyeur deities whose own libidos were excited by viewing orgiastic rites or sacrificial acts of brutality and bloodletting. They were excited by those things. And so, there was this raised platform on a high hill intended for one reason: To let their gods see more clearly. The prescribed worship of Baal involved sacrifices, animal or grain offerings typically, along with prayer.

The prescribed worship at these places also includes religious prostitution. Ritual prostitution of both sexes was common. There was a homosexual guild in their temples. It was sexual. Why? Because Canaanite religion was grossly sensual and perverse. It centered in sexual activity because that's how their gods were described. Baal, in Canaanite religion, we learn, impregnated Asherah in their myths. And rainfall attributed to Baal was thought to represent his semen falling to earth to fertilize and impregnate the earth. The cultic prostitutes were there to help the worshippers act out the drama.

In addition to all of this wretched worship, there was occasionally child sacrifice as well. On that altar I just showed you, the children of people would be taken and slain, mixed in with all of the sexual stuff supposedly exciting their gods. Now you say, "Well, why would anyone participate in that? What is the appeal? What is the inherent appeal of idolatry?"

Idolatry had, and by the way, still has, two inherent appeals. First of all, self-centered gratification. And that takes three basic forms: Violence and brutality. If you doubt that, just look at the news in ISIS. Those people are idolaters, and they are getting satisfaction out of the bloodletting and the brutality. Idolatry always appeals to that. Secondly, sexual fulfillment. You can see that as well. And then financial prosperity. Again, remember, this was an agricultural society. So, Israel was tempted to put its hope and confidence in Baal because Baal supposedly could help your crops grow. It was financial. Idolatry always has this appeal, self-centered gratification.

Secondly, self-rule. Ultimately, because it's a pretend god, you control the god, you have a say; it ultimately comes back to self-rule. Romans 1:21 makes the point that the person who pursues idolatry has first made a deliberate choice: Even though they knew God, they chose not to glorify Him as God or to give thanks. Why? Because that puts me in charge. Because an idol is no god at all. If I have to carry him around, he depends on me. And he certainly can't make many demands of me. And the demands he makes, I like. So this is the inherent appeal of idolatry. It was then, it's now as well.

Now, when you look at the book of Judges, because of these sins that permeated the people, because there was intermarriage, because there was idolatry, a cycle recurs. It is a cycle of sin followed by suffering that God brings, usually oppression from one of the neighboring people groups in their armies, supplication by God's people. When things really get bad, they cry out to God. And then salvation. God in His grace raises up local deliverers to protect individual cities or tribes from attack.

Now, here is a list of the judges from Israel. You may not be able to read all of that clearly, but you can see it when it's posted online. Basically, what I want you to see is I've charted here the number of years oppressed against the number of years of freedom. And you'll see that the number of years of oppression begin to increase, and the number of years of freedom between those oppressions begin to shrink.

You'll also see that there were major judges, those that are featured in the book of Judges, and then there were lesser ones that are really more mentioned in passing. And I've tried to illustrate that here as well. There was overlap with some of these judges. In other words, some of them lived and served, and at the same time because, remember, they were not national leaders, they were regional or tribal leaders, led different regions, judged or led different regions of the country. So it was a time of awful defeat and decline for the nation. It was, without question, the darkest period of Israel's history.

During that same period of time the events in Ruth took place. I loved our journey through the book of Ruth. If you weren't here when we walked through Ruth, I taught through it on Sunday nights just about a year ago or so. I encourage you to go back and listen, because the narrative recorded in Ruth occurs during the time of the judges, over about a ten-year period. And the significance of Ruth is to encourage God's people to remain loyal to Him even during overarching times of unfaithfulness, as Boaz did. In addition, it traces the genealogy of David. It shows us that the redeeming work of God was taking place. Ruth the Moabite ended up being the great-grandmother of David. And it also shows the redeeming work of God even during the darkest time of Israel's history.

I love the fact that during the worst time, God reached down and brought Ruth the Moabite to Himself, just snatched her from her idolatry and brought her to Himself, and she ends up in the line of Christ. It shows that God continues to be a Redeemer in the worst of times. That should give us hope, shouldn't it? God is still a Redeemer.

So that's the time of the judges. It runs from the death of Joshua, in about 1390, 1380 BC, until the time of Samuel. This would have been just before Saul becomes king in 1051. So it was a long, dark period. The transition to the monarchy then occurs in the first eight chapters of 1 Samuel.

We leave Judges and Ruth. We come to 1 Samuel; the first eight chapters give us that transition from the judges to the monarchy. The reason it's a transition is because the last judge, and the only national judge, was a man named Samuel, and his history is recorded for us in 1 Samuel, [chapters] 1 to 8. Now, when we come to the book of 1 Samuel, it serves several purposes.

Politically, it records the establishment of the monarchy. Out of that dark period of the judges, we have the monarchy. Also, politically, it serves as an apologetic from Samuel, both for his contemporaries and for future generations, explaining the change in dynasties from Benjamin and Saul to David and Judah. I mean, after all, what makes a king a king? His son follows him. So why in the world did David follow Saul? Samuel explains that in this book and also to record the rise of the prophetic office along with the office of king. Spiritually, it reminds us that God alone was the supreme King and any government had to function under His authority. And theologically, 1 Samuel shows us the need for, and points to, David's greatest Son, the Lord Jesus, the only perfect Ruler that there ever has been or ever will be, 1 Samuel.

Now, just a brief outline, very simple. You have Samuel's history in chapters 1 to 7. You have Saul's history in chapters 8 to 15. You have David's history in chapters 16 to 31. Samuel, as a national leader and judge, sets Israel on the path of blessing. But when he grows old, the nation, understandably, isn't anxious to slip back into the period of the judges when there was no national ruler. And so, they demand a king.

Now, it's important to understand that God had already planned to give Israel a king. This is clear. The Pentateuch indicated that in line with God's will, there would someday be a human king. Deuteronomy even gives specific instructions, in Deuteronomy 17, for how a king was to function and to rule. And Yahweh himself commanded Samuel to give them a king. So, this was God's plan. So that raises the question then, why was it sinful? Why was it wrong for the people of Israel to demand a king? Well, there are several reasons.

They demanded a king prematurely without divine consultation, and I wish I had time to take you to these passages. You can look them up on your own. Secondly, they desired a king for the wrong reason. Again and again they say, "We want to be like all the other nations." They chose a king by the wrong criteria. God says, "You chose him," in the sense that this choice is the kind of man you would choose and the criteria you would use. And in essence, it ends up being a rejection of God. And God specifically says that, in 1 Samuel 8, on several occasions, because of these reasons.

Now, when you think about Israel's kings, it's important to understand this. Yahweh is still King in Israel. He hasn't given up His throne. He is still King. And so, the human kings were not autonomous. They were not able to establish themselves the law. They were not "self-law." Instead, they were under the law of God. Deuteronomy 17 even says that kings would have to make a copy of God's law for themselves and read it every day. That was a reminder that they didn't have ultimate authority. They sat under the law of God, and they were accountable to the spiritual leader God appointed. You will begin to see, in the period of the kings, a spiritual office that keeps the kings accountable, and that office is the prophet. And they become an absolute burr under the saddle of these wicked kings who want to do what they want. The moment that happens, a prophet shows up. This was God's way to keep Israel's kings in their place, to remind them that unlike the kings around them, they did not have complete and total authority. They were under law, under God.

Now, let me introduce you to the monarchy. I want to paint a picture. Stay with me, because I don't think you can appreciate this unless you stick with me, here a moment. Think about our own country. In 1776, we began as a country, and so now, for 230 plus years, we have existed as a collection of confederated states with a unified central government. But I want you to, for a moment, forget that happened. It's kind of looking like some people are forgetting that's happening. In California, there were people talking about secession. Of course, the rest of the country is pretty excited about that. It's a joke. And I actually ran into people who said this to me. I was eating at a restaurant with my daughters and one of the restaurants -- we frequently were out there -- and then Sheila and I know the owners and the wife of the owner said to me, "If that happens, we're moving to Texas."

But imagine for a moment what the political climate in our country today would be like if instead of a central government, each of the 50 states was fully autonomous. Of course, larger states would throw their weight around. They would dominate the smaller, less populated states, poor North and South Dakota. There would be constant bickering. There would be shifting alliances. There would be infighting. There would even be armed conflicts between the border residents of some of the states. There would likely be intrusions at various times from Canada and Mexico and other foreign countries, each trying to insert itself and take advantage of the lack of a unified government.

Imagine if that had gone on not since 1776 but since 1700. That's a comparable experience to what we see when the monarchy begins in Israel, 300 years. And now with the monarchy, we come to the end of that long, dark night. We come out of the period of the judges and into the monarchy.

For 300 years, there was no king in Israel, and every man did that which was right in his own eyes. The last judge and the only national judge, Samuel, introduces us to the seventh great movement of Old Testament history. It begins in 1 Samuel, chapter 9. The monarchy, which lasted from 1051, when Saul was anointed as king, to 586, when the southern kingdom of Judah eventually fell to the Babylonians. That's the period of time. And it's recorded for us in 1 Samuel 9 through the end of 2 Kings and of course, overlapping that, is 1 and 2 Chronicles.

Now, monarchy, as I said before, what makes a monarchy? What makes a monarchy that is ruled by kings different or distinct from other forms of government? One thing: The principle of secession. When a king dies, the son he has chosen, usually the oldest son, succeeds him. Now Yahweh, as I said, is still King in Israel. To this point, however, He has mediated His rule through individuals personally selected in each case. With the monarchy, He begins to mediate His rule through family secession.

Now, there are two distinct periods of the monarchy in Israel. There is the united monarchy. That's when the kings ruled over all twelve tribes, the entire land of Israel. And then there is the divided monarchy. That's when the twelve tribes were divided into two separate kingdoms with separate kings, the united and the divided.

Let's look at the united monarchy. It runs from 1 Samuel through 1 Kings 11. The united monarchy consists of three kings and two dynasties. Three kings, two dynasties. You have Saul, David and Solomon. They are the only three kings of Israel who reigned over all twelve tribes. And the united monarchy -- think about this, think about Israel's history -- the united monarchy lasted only for 120 years, and each of those three kings ruled for 40 years. So, let's look at the united monarchy, really the high point of Old Testament history.

You have, first of all, Saul. He was anointed in the year 1051 BC, and he reigned to 1011 BC. He was from the tribe of Benjamin. He was the people's choice. So, God told Samuel to make him king. And of course, as you know, he began well. But because of two specific acts of rebellion and disobedience, God determined to replace Saul. Those two acts were in 1 Samuel 13, the sacrifice at Gilgal, when he took upon himself the role of priest and the sparing of the Amalekites, where he had been ordered to exterminate them and he spared the king and he spared the animals in 1 Samuel 15.

As a result of that, Samuel abandoned Saul and God rejected Saul's house — that is, his dynasty — in favor of a man after God's own heart. Here's the text that sort of gives us clarity to what's going on in this period of time, 1 Samuel 13:13:

Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not endure. Yahweh has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

That's a powerful statement of the importance of obedience to our God, isn't it? And of course, Samuel also told Saul, "The Lord has more delight in obedience than He does in sacrifice and burnt offering." A wonderful reminder to us. We can show up and we can sing with our hearts, and we can praise and we can pray, but God has far more delight in our obedience to Him, and then He receives our worship.

Now, think about this for a moment. Saul knew that it was God's will to replace him because of his disobedience. Samuel couldn't have made it any clearer. But Saul refused to accept this, and he becomes insanely jealous when he perceives any threat to his throne and to his dynasty. And so, from that day forward, Saul distrusted David. He became convinced that David would be his replacement. And sadly, his distrust grew to contempt, and his contempt became a settled, murderous rage. This is really unthinkable. I mean, we read these stories and we sort of say "Yeah, I've heard that." Think about this for a moment. God told Saul, "I'm going to replace you." Saul thinks David is going to be the replacement. And so he begins, in his insane jealousy, to seek his life. Saul's first attempts to kill David were in the privacy of the palace. Twice, he tried to pin him to the wall with his spear. Then, Saul reconsiders the, you know, the ramifications of actually murdering one of his staff in a setting where it's going to be known. And so, he sets out then, in 18:12 and following, to kill David by stealth. Samuel records a number of attempts for Saul to kill David.

But interestingly enough, he also records — the book of Samuel, 1 Samuel — something else. It records David's defenders. In 1 Samuel 19:11 through 21:9, we're provided with a record of those who defended David and sought to protect his life from Saul. Look at the list. This is really important. Those who defended David, who sought to protect him, were Saul's daughter, Michal; Samuel, the prophet; and the Lord Himself; Jonathan, Saul's son and the one who supposedly should be the next king; and Ahimelech, the high priest. Now, why do you think those names would be listed? By recording these incidents, the prophet makes it clear that those in a position to know David, to know his motives, those who were in authority, even those of Saul's household, defended David and proclaimed his innocence.

After these episodes, David became a fugitive on the run for the next few years. And for the rest of 1 Samuel, Saul was fully aware God had chosen David as the next king of Israel by chapter 20 and certainly by chapter 24. But his jealousy moved him to try to frustrate God's clear plan by killing the successor that God Himself had chosen. And chapters 21 to 26 document the years that Saul basically abdicated his duties as king and went on a personal manhunt to destroy David.

Now, remember that part of the purpose of 1 Samuel is an apologetic for the change in dynasties. That doesn't seem to matter to you, but if you were an Israelite, that mattered because you didn't know what happened. There was no "First Post" of Jerusalem, there was no newspaper publishing what was going on in the palace.

And so suddenly, David becomes king. And what is your first thought? Well, he's not Saul's son. God put Saul in place. So what happened? There must have been like a coup. There must have been some intrigue in the palace. David must have inserted himself into authority. And the writer wants us to know that David didn't obtain the throne of Israel by stealth. There was no coup. He didn't manipulate or intimidate his way to power. In fact, every time opportunity knocked, David refused to answer. You can read it in 1 Samuel. It underscored David's integrity, his patience, to wait on God's timing. He did absolutely nothing to remove Saul from power. But more than that, and I think this is a lesson that we as Christians need to remember today, he respected the leader because he knew God had established him for that time, even though Saul wasn't deserving of that respect. And he even sought to preserve his life.

Now, think about these circumstances from David's perspective. Again, as my father-in-law used to say, "Read the Bible with a sanctified imagination." Think about David for a moment. His whole life had been a fairy tale to this point. He goes from being a sheep herder to being anointed the next king of the nation. He goes from being a sheep herder to being in Saul's court as a musician. And then his whole life is turned upside down. He was once the favorite of the people. He was the leader of the army, he was the king's son-in-law. Applauded on every hand, Saul has slain his thousands, but David his tens of thousands, and now he's a fugitive, an outlaw hunted by the king of the nation. And so, David is left with only two choices.

His two choices are: Leave Israel and live outside the land. But there's a problem with that, because that's risky. Remember, he'd been the general of Israel's army. If he was recognized outside of the nation, he would undoubtedly be captured and killed.

His other option was to remain in the country, gather some men to help protect him, and try to stay out of sight, stay in sparsely populated areas where it'd be difficult for Saul to find him and to follow. And 1 Samuel 21 to 31 shows that David tried both of these plans at various times in his life.

Here's an interesting thing. I love the fact that the Bible shows us these characters, warts and all, because David, what motivated David, especially when he left the country and went outside to its enemies, what motivated him was a lack of confidence in God. You say, "Can I prove that?" I can, because in 1 Samuel 27:1, we find David talking to himself, and it's recorded for us. Here's what he said: "Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul." David feared he wouldn't continue to successfully escape Saul's attempts on his life. So, he goes on to say, verse 1: "There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand." Now, you tell me, is that true? Is the first part of verse 1 true, "I will perish one day by the hand of Saul"? No, it's not true. It's not true because God had promised David, through His prophet, he would be the next king of the nation.

So, we see David, this great figure that we all love and admire and respect, wavering in his confidence in the promises of God. Samuel, in chapter 16, had told him he'd be Israel's next king. In chapter 23, Jonathan, for goodness sakes, had told him he'd be the next king. And in chapter 24, Saul told him he'd be the next king. But David struggles to believe God. But, you know, God is so good and gracious, and this is what I want to encourage you with. God is so good and gracious that even though David, out of a lack of faith, goes to the land of Israel's enemies, God does something remarkable. He not only preserves David, but he prospers him. And even more remarkable, God uses his time — think about this now — God uses David's time outside the country to accomplish two other amazing things: He defeats the enemies of Israel, and support grows for David in Israel. Only God can do that.

Now, that brings us to David as king. David as king, he reigned from 1011 to 971 BC. When he died, Solomon, his son, took over. Obviously, he's from the tribe of Judah. He united the nation, made Jerusalem the capital. And God made a covenant with him in which He promised never to do to David and to his dynasty what he had done to Saul's. He would never remove a king from the throne of David. That is, David would always have one of his descendants who would rule.

Therefore, Messiah must be descended from David as is promised. Under David, Israel became the mightiest nation on the eastern Mediterranean. His life begins as king in 2 Samuel. You have, through the first five chapters, the middle of the first five chapters, you have David's difficult rise to the throne. Secondly, in the middle of chapter 5, running through chapter 9, you have David's glorious reign in Jerusalem. In chapters 10 to 20, you have David's weak and sinful latter days. And then in chapters 21 to 24, you have reflection on David's reign.

I just want you to think about, for a moment, a timeline of David's life. I think there's a powerful lesson here for you and for me. Think about this. He was probably chosen by God to be Israel's second king and anointed by the prophet Samuel when he was about 15 years old, 1 Samuel 16. He then began serving in the court as a musician and then occasionally returning home as a shepherd to shepherd the sheep of his father. Somewhere in his late teens is when he defeated Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. It was only shortly after that that Saul began to seek his life. We don't know exactly how long that lasted, but we know Saul died when David was about 22 years of age and I won't take you through the math to get there. But when you put all that together, for at least three years, and perhaps for four or five years, David fled from Saul for his life. Then, of course, Saul was killed. And while David was genuinely grieved for Saul, he returned to Israel, and he was quickly anointed as king over Judah. Wisely then, he sought, through diplomacy, to extend his rule over the rest of the nation. But they refused to accept him as their king. And what followed was a tragic, lengthy civil war among the people that he loved. For seven and a half years, David ruled as king, but only over one of Israel's twelve tribes.

It wasn't — think about this — it wasn't until David was 30 that he finally became king of all Israel. For 15 years, he waited patiently on God. And remarkably — read it if you want, try to find it — you won't find one hint of anger or bitterness or impatience. His story is an incredible lesson for us in patience and waiting on God to act. How impatient we are. I don't know what it is you're hoping for, anticipating, praying for from God, but are you willing to wait 15 years? David was. He trusted God. He knew that God, in His time, would bring it to pass.

Now, there are a couple of strategic events I want to point out to you. They both occur in 2 Samuel 5. Finally, in the first five verses of 2 Samuel 5, David becomes king over all Israel after seven and a half years rule. In Hebron, the leaders from all the tribes and their armies gather. They come to Hebron, and they formally request David to be king. And he finally, at 30 years of age, about 15 years after he was anointed to eventually be king, and all that intervened between, he becomes king. In 5:6-12, he chooses his capital city, Jerusalem.

Now, why did he choose Jerusalem? Well, you can see on this slide, Jerusalem there in the center, and you can see this relief map, it's in the hill country, the central hill country, the highlands of the nation. That made it strategic for a number of reasons. It existed, the city of Jerusalem existed, in the time of Abraham. Remember? In Genesis 14, we meet a mysterious character named Melchizedek, who was king of Salem. But it wasn't much to speak of. Here is a drawing. You see the black outline that goes around the outer edge? That is the city of Jerusalem in the time of Jesus. But if you'll notice the dark brown line that circles a very small portion near the bottom of the slide, that was David's original capital city. In the time of David, when he chose it, it was only about twelve acres, but it was supplied by a good spring, and it was surrounded on three sides by natural defenses. And so, it made sense for him to choose.

There are other reasons as well, I don't have time to get into, but you can see it there. And so, he begins then, in 5:17, his glorious reign in Jerusalem. He, first of all, brings the ark to Jerusalem in chapter 6. Why? Why the ark? Because the ark symbolized the earthly throne of God, the earthly throne of Yahweh. It was like His throne room. That was the Holy of Holies. And so, by bringing the ark to Jerusalem, David was making a public statement that the Lord was still the true King of the nation, and He was to rule over David and over the nation. It was a statement of his devotion to God as King.

In chapter 7, God promises David an eternal dynasty. It's really a promise; at the heart of the Davidic Covenant was the promise that the coming Messiah would be one of David's descendants. And it just builds on what we've already seen develop in the Old Testament. In Genesis 3, we learned the Messiah would be a human from the seat of a woman. In Genesis 4, we learned He would be from the line of Seth. In Genesis 11, we learned that He would be a descendant of Shem, one of Noah's sons. In Genesis 12, we learned He'll be a descendant of Abraham. In Genesis 21, he'll come through Isaac, Genesis 28 through Jacob, Genesis 49 through Judah, one of the twelve tribes. And then when we get to 2 Samuel 7:16, He would be a descendant of one family in Judah, David's family. And of course, Luke 1 tells us that this was fulfilled in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sadly, David's story isn't all good. There were failures in David's life. And in 2 Samuel, chapter 10 through chapter 20, the writer traces David's weaknesses and failures and the results of those. Of course, two chief sins are recorded of David. One of them is Bathsheba in chapters 11 and 12 that occurred early in his reign, somewhere in the early years of his reign. And then the second sin was the census that he took. It's really unclear. This would have been toward the end of his reign. It's really unclear what the sin was. Possibly it was pride and ambition. Possibly it was dependence on Israel's army rather than on God. Maybe he intended to increase the tax burden on the people contrary to Deuteronomy. Or maybe he intended to have a conscription of labor. We just don't know. But regardless, it was a line he crossed.

And because of those sins, God brought discipline into his life. And that discipline came in the form of a rebellious son. By the way, let me just say rebellious children are not always God's discipline. But in David's case, Absalom clearly was: Chapters 12 through 19, that's recorded.

But I don't want to end on the negative note. I want to end on the positive. David was a man after God's own heart. You understand that? We read it a moment ago in 1 Samuel 13. So, the question to us is: How do you get to be a man after God's own heart? Well, Samuel answers that question and I want to end by showing it to you. Look at 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel, chapter 17. You want to be a man or a woman after God's own heart? 1 Samuel 17, one of the most famous stories in the Bible tells us exactly how. This story is not about how to defeat the giants in your life, has nothing to do with that whatsoever. This story exists to tell us why God would pick David and why God would say he's a man after God's own heart. Here is what a man after God's own heart looks like, 1 Samuel 17:46.

This is David's speech to Goliath. Notice verse 46: "This day Yahweh will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth," here it is, this was why David was said to be a man after God's own heart, "that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all these people may know that Yahweh does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is Yahweh's and He will give you into our hands." You want to know what makes a person a man or a woman after God's own heart? It's a person whose heart beats for the same thing God's heart beats for, and that is His own glory. You want to be a person after God's own heart? Live your life to exalt the glory of your God.

Let's pray together. Father, thank you for these powerful lessons, so many of them coming at us in so many different ways. Thank you that through this instruction we, upon whom the ends of the ages have come, might have hope, might have clarity of how You work and how You act. Father, help us to be a people after Your own heart. Help us to live for Your glory, to exalt You, and like David, to anticipate the coming of the Messiah. He, the first coming; we, his second. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.