I CHRONICLES

Chapter 10

"The House of Saul Overthrown. [1 - 14]"

 

This Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's transcription/ location
is provided by
http://www.theseason.org/ 

This account of the death of Saul is quite accurate, as recorded in I Samuel 31. After Saul had seen the Philistines take the lives of his three sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Melchishua, he was hit by an archer's arrow. Rather than allowing himself to be taken alive in battle, and his armor bearer would not slay him, Saul took his own life.

I Samuel 31:4 "Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, "Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me." But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it."

I Samuel 31:5 "And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him."

I Samuel 31:6 "So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together."

So here I Samuel 31 and in I Chronicles 10: we have the history of the event that came to pass out there on the battle field, when Saul, his sons and his armourbearer lost their lives to the Philistines. However, the reason for this happening is given in I Samuel 10:2-13 when the prophet Samuel had anointed Saul as king, and then given him the instructions from God.

I Chronicles 10:1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Bilboa."

I Chronicles 10:2 "And the Philistines followed hard after Saul;, and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul."

I Chronicles 10:3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was wounded of the archers."

I Chronicles 10:4 Then said Saul to his armourbearer, "Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me." But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it."

I Chronicles 10:5 "And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on the sword, and died."

I Chronicles 10:6 "So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house died together."

I Chronicles 10:7 "And when all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his three sons were dead, then they forsook their cities and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt in them."

I Chronicles 10:8 "And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in mount Giboa."

I Chronicles 10:9 "And when they had stripped him, they took his head, and his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry tidings unto their idols, and to the people."

It wasn't the Philistines that stripped Saul of his armor and took off his head, but thieves and misfits that followed the Philistine army into battle for the sake of robbing the dead.

I Chronicles 10:10 "And they put his armour in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon."

As we read in I Samuel 31:10, "And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fasten his body to the wall of Beth-shan."

"Ashtaroth" is a form of the word "Easter", which has become the substitute for God holy day, Passover. In ignorance Christians have taken the word Easter, and all the traditions of this heathen feast day, and claimed it as being of Christ. The problem within the two feast day, is that the Passover and the feast of Ishtar just don't mix; for Christians today mix the religious sex orgies and use the bunnies and eggs to represent the sex act that was carried on, that was practiced to worship Ishtar. Most Christians today think that God will smile down and wink on their ignorance, as they follow their traditions that go against the Word of God, as long as they remember Christ's crucifixion at the same time.

I Chronicles 10:11 "And when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,"

As pointed out in I Samuel 31, when the people in Jabesh-gilead heard what had happened to Saul, they remembered what Saul had done for them after he had become king, and they had a great deal of love for their king.

I Chronicles 10:12 "Then arose, all the valiant men, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days."

This was the only time in all the Scriptures that cremation is mentioned in the Word of God, and in the text the use of Cremation is alright. When the flesh body is over and done with, it will never be used again by the soul and spirit that is housed within. Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 12:7; "Then shall the dust [of these flesh bodies] return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God Who gave it." There is no soul sleep as many Christians have come to believe, because their soul and spirit have gone instantly to heaven to be in the presence of the Father that created them in the first place. The reason for this belief is that "soul sleep" gives strength to their heathen tradition of the rapture theory, of a rising in the end times: Its one heathen tradition giving support to another heathen tradition.

Paul discusses this in detail in First Thessalonians 4:13-17; "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope." [13] "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." [14] When a person passes on and dies, the soul of that dead body is instantly in the presence of the Lord.

I Chronicles 10:13 "So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar sprit, to enquire of it;"

Remember back in I Samuel 10:2-13, The instructions from God were given to Samuel before he became king, and Saul chose to ignore them. God demanded that only He be the council to the king, yet Saul sought to do as the heathen do, and go to the "counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;" Our heavenly Father YHVH forbids angel worship in any form, and "familiar spirits" are demonics playing the role of persons that have passed on to be with the father. When you call up a "familiar spirit", or demon, you are asking counsel of the spirits of the devil, and not seeking direction from God.

I Samuel 28:6, 7 "And when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets." [6] "Then said Saul unto his servants, "Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her." And the servant said to him, "Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor." " [7]

This marked the end of Saul's reign. It is important that we understand exactly what a "familiar spirit" is. In the Strong's Hebrew dictionary #3049 it reads; "Yidde-oniy, yid-deh-o-nee'; from 3045, prop, a knowing one; spec. a conjurer; (by impl.) a ghost: wizard." Familiar spirits are spirits that have possessed those that have died from a prior time. This practice is going on today all over the world, for "these evil spirit are playing the role of that dead person, and appear, speak, and take on the illusion of that dead person", and that is exactly what Saul had done with this witch of Endor. He had that woman witch conjure up a evil spirit that would appear to be the prophet Samuel, so that wicked spirit could speak to him and give him instructions. Was that instruction from God? Of course not, but from one of the devils demonic spirits under the control of Satan.

When Saul's burdens became to heavy, and he was at odds as to what to do, she sought counsel from the demonics of Satan. As Christians, Jesus has told us exactly where we can turn in Matthew 11:28-30.

Matthew 11:28 "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

This is Jesus speaking to you and I here. The word "rest" in the Hebrew tongue means "sabbath". Jesus Christ became our Sabbath, all of our Sabbaths when we accept Him, repent and believe on His name. So what Christ is saying here is that all those that have eyes to see and ears to hear with understanding, and are laboring in this world flesh age; "Who do you carry your heavy burdens alone? Let Me, Jesus Christ the Lord lighten those loads, and give you rest from those burdens."

Matthew 11:29 "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."

He is asking you to learn about Him. When His Word becomes part of your life, and the central part of your heart, which is your mind, then that is what will become your instruction. It will be through the Word of God that the Holy Spirit will lighten your load and reveal the things of life to you, and you will find rest in Him. Saul didn't seek after God's wisdom, but after the wisdom of Satan through this demonic spirit.

The purpose of the yoke is to share the work [The pulling of the load], and give you only what you are able to pull. When the load is greater than you can handle, then the rest of the load is shifted from you to the yoke, and God continues pulling the load for you. The reason for the yoke in the first place is to take all those sharp points that rub against the animal and protect the skin and the body. So when we take Jesus' teaching and follow those guidelines that are set up in His Word; then when we bring our burdens to Him in prayer and repentance, those heavy burdens that we thought were difficult, will be lightened like a balloon full of hot air.

Matthew 11:30 "For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."

Taking Christ's yoke is not a problem, for it is Christ that does the harnessing. Let Christ do that for you, and while you are in His yoke, you will find true rest. Learn to lean on the Lord for you help, and instructions, and depend on His Word for the leading of His Spirit.

I Chronicles 10:14 "And enquired not of the Lord: therefore He slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse."

What a change, what a difference as Saul sought after the ways of the devil, and David sought after the ways of the YHVH our heavenly Father. This sets the course in each of our lives, whether we will learn to lean of YHVH our heavenly father, and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ to lift the load of life, or go chasing after the devils ways, as the world and Saul did. Choices, we make them every day in our lives, and they determine the direction and course that our life will go through. One is God's way and eternal life, the other is the ways of the devil, that lead only to destruction. It's up to you what choice that you take and the way of life that you choose.

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