Image via Wikipedia"All hail King David! Long live the King!!" And so began a new era in the history of Israel. During the forty years of King Saul's rule, Israel lived in an atmosphere of fear. Battles with the Philistines were reactionary rather than offensive campaigns. King Saul was obsessed with establishing a dynasty in his own name rather than securing the nation of Israel in God's Name.
As soon as David was accepted as King over all of Israel, he, in the spirit of Joshua, launched an attack against Jebus, a city that came to be known as Jerusalem. When Israel entered the Land of Canaan, God told Israel that He gave them this land and that they were to dispossess the inhabitants. While Joshua and a few generations after him sought to accomplish God's will, the people of Israel generally began to slack off in their conquest of the land; they sought to fit in rather than to live according to God's command. King David saw a city fortress, humanly impossible to defeat, and claimed it as a victory for Israel in God's Name.
Standing on God's Word and on God's Promises to Israel, David defeated the proud Jebusites and established his fortress there. Long before David's time, Abraham was sent to the mountain, in the region of Moriah, on which Jerusalem was built, to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God. Of course God did not allow Isaac to be sacrificed. In his place God provided a ram and Abraham understood another dimension of God's character: The Lord will Provide (what He sees is needed), Hebrew יְהֹוָה יִרְאֵה (Yĕhovah yireh). (In Genesis 22:8, Abraham made a statement of faith that God will see what is required and that He himself will provide.)
"So Abraham called that place "The Lord Will Provide". And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the Lord, it will be provided." The Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time and said, "I swear by Myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your decendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all the nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed Me." Genesis 22: 14 - 19
Similarly, King David knew that God had given this fortress city to Israel. He went against the city, fully confident that God would provide him with a military victory, since he was obeying God's will by attacking Jebus. So, David began his rule over Israel as a conquering King; fully committed to God's plan for His people; fully in dwelt by God's Holy Spirit, the Hebrew רוּחַ (ruwach), (1 Samuel 16:13) which gave him power and ability to discern God's Will.
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit7307 of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up , and went to Ramah. 1 Samuel 16:13
In the strength of the Spirit of God, David's first conquest, the fortress of Zion, the City of David, became the seat of Israel. And, Jerusalem, the seat of Israel, is tied to the place where God blessed Israel for all generations, for the benefit of all nations.
Israel, as a nation, today comprises less than 0.5% of the entire world population. Yet, Jewish people, between 1901 and 1990, were awarded 22% of the Nobel Prizes for Science. In the 21st century, Jewish people have won 32% of all Nobel Prizes awarded. Most of these awards have translated into scientific and technological achievements through which mankind has benefited enormously. God's Promises are as eternal as the great I AM THAT I AM.
So many decades passed between King David and Joshua, that it was possible to think that God's plan was applicable only to Joshua's time. However, David stood on God's eternal covenant with Israel; on God's revealed character; on God's revealed Will for Israel. David stood in the faith that God would do exactly as He promised and that time was a function of man's experience not of God's eternal reality.
Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for Yĕhovah yireh (Strong's 3070)". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2011. 19 Mar 2011. < http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?
Strongs=H3070&t=KJV >
Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for ruwach (Strong's 7307)". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2011. 19 Mar 2011. < http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?
Strongs=H7307&t=KJV >
As soon as David was accepted as King over all of Israel, he, in the spirit of Joshua, launched an attack against Jebus, a city that came to be known as Jerusalem. When Israel entered the Land of Canaan, God told Israel that He gave them this land and that they were to dispossess the inhabitants. While Joshua and a few generations after him sought to accomplish God's will, the people of Israel generally began to slack off in their conquest of the land; they sought to fit in rather than to live according to God's command. King David saw a city fortress, humanly impossible to defeat, and claimed it as a victory for Israel in God's Name.
Standing on God's Word and on God's Promises to Israel, David defeated the proud Jebusites and established his fortress there. Long before David's time, Abraham was sent to the mountain, in the region of Moriah, on which Jerusalem was built, to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God. Of course God did not allow Isaac to be sacrificed. In his place God provided a ram and Abraham understood another dimension of God's character: The Lord will Provide (what He sees is needed), Hebrew יְהֹוָה יִרְאֵה (Yĕhovah yireh). (In Genesis 22:8, Abraham made a statement of faith that God will see what is required and that He himself will provide.)
"So Abraham called that place "The Lord Will Provide". And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the Lord, it will be provided." The Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time and said, "I swear by Myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your decendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all the nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed Me." Genesis 22: 14 - 19
Similarly, King David knew that God had given this fortress city to Israel. He went against the city, fully confident that God would provide him with a military victory, since he was obeying God's will by attacking Jebus. So, David began his rule over Israel as a conquering King; fully committed to God's plan for His people; fully in dwelt by God's Holy Spirit, the Hebrew רוּחַ (ruwach), (1 Samuel 16:13) which gave him power and ability to discern God's Will.
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit7307 of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up , and went to Ramah. 1 Samuel 16:13
In the strength of the Spirit of God, David's first conquest, the fortress of Zion, the City of David, became the seat of Israel. And, Jerusalem, the seat of Israel, is tied to the place where God blessed Israel for all generations, for the benefit of all nations.
Israel, as a nation, today comprises less than 0.5% of the entire world population. Yet, Jewish people, between 1901 and 1990, were awarded 22% of the Nobel Prizes for Science. In the 21st century, Jewish people have won 32% of all Nobel Prizes awarded. Most of these awards have translated into scientific and technological achievements through which mankind has benefited enormously. God's Promises are as eternal as the great I AM THAT I AM.
So many decades passed between King David and Joshua, that it was possible to think that God's plan was applicable only to Joshua's time. However, David stood on God's eternal covenant with Israel; on God's revealed character; on God's revealed Will for Israel. David stood in the faith that God would do exactly as He promised and that time was a function of man's experience not of God's eternal reality.
Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for Yĕhovah yireh (Strong's 3070)". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2011. 19 Mar 2011. < http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?
Strongs=H3070&t=KJV >
Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for ruwach (Strong's 7307)". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2011. 19 Mar 2011. < http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?
Strongs=H7307&t=KJV >
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