The Real, the Shadow, and the Face of God

  King David was a “shadow” of Christ. Of course, his shadow had a negative image. With that said, God “developed” the image of David with His Light, and David was the embodiment of trust in God.
God used toughlove on David because he loved him so!
  David had a faithful trust in Jesus, and as the fulfillment of that trust, Jesus had due regard for David, even to the point of quoting David’s psalms.
  As he died on the cross, Jesus sang a song to David about himself: “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” That was the first verse of Psalm 22 in both Hebrew and Greek (the latter transliterated to English.)
  David’s psalm was the Hebrew, “eli eli lamah azabtani” which was close to the Aramaic. Jesus wanted everyone to hear David’s song because it was his song! Then reading on, David’s psalm was about Jesus’s crucifixion. David surely saw God face to face on the Holy Cross!
The psalms are not preached on often, but they are prophetic. Moses didn’t see God’s face, but David did. Moses was summoned to the transfiguration of Jesus to see the “face” of God but David saw Jesus face to face from afar in time!
  David asked, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?     How long will you hide your face from me?” (Psalm 13:1). In Psalm 22, we find; not for long! When believers look on Jesus, they see God face to face!

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. (John 14:6-10)

  David had the same thought as Philip; David asked, “How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?” Jesus told Philip, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?”
Jesus is the “Face” of God and Is God in the Flesh.
  Jacob wrestled with God before David’s time. He said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” (Gen 32:30). Jacob should have died since he had seen God’s face. (He was supposed to have died, but had not because he had not seen the man with whom he had wrestled with the glorified Face of God.)  At the transfiguration, God’s face was projected onto Jesus: “And (Jesus) was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” (Mat 17:2).
  The transfiguration is God shining His face upon Jesus. Think of it this way: Jesus’s face was the screen, and God projected His Light upon the “screen” of flesh. Moses, Elijah, and the apostles who were there saw the glory of God shining upon the face of Jesus. The Mount of Transfiguration is where the spiritual and physical world was revealed as one. Jesus was glorified by God, surely in preparation for his death; not that he became God but was revealed as God and obtained glorified, indestructible flesh.
  Now back to the words of David: He knew Jesus, knew what he looked like, and even spoke God’s Words (The Word is Jesus; John 1-2,14). Jesus’s words are found throughout the psalms, most notably in Psalm 22 but also throughout! Jesus was not called “Son of David” for nothing… they spoke the same Words!
  After Jesus was resurrected, Paul saw God face to face when Jesus blinded him that he could see. Think of blind Saul being in a dark theatre. Jesus, who had been transformed, and his face shining forth light, shined forth in Paul’s “theatre” and projected his face into Saul’s mind and soul. Saul received the face of God, and as a new person, was renamed Paul. He had seen the Light as prescribed in John 3.
  As the ultimate Jew, Saul had known God, but not seen Him face to face. He had failed to recognize Jesus as God because Jesus had not been transfigured. God blinded Saul such that he could see clearly the image of God projected on Jesus’s face.
  Not only was the transfiguration for Paul’s sake, but for especially Moses and ours. When anyone comes to the understanding that Jesus is the Face and Flesh of God, that makes God real to them as it did Paul. The Light seen by those who are born again, creates in them a true vision of Jesus’s identity: Jesus must be God, and Almighty God has the Power to Create and resurrect. Christians see the Face of God on the body of Jesus who is God in the Flesh! Jesus’s flesh is much like a theatre screen which reveals things hidden for view; it reveals God!
  Where did Paul go to speak new thoughts? He went back to the “shadow” of Jesus - David. He took David’s words as the inspired Word of God. He recognized that David’s words were the thoughts of Jesus, and that David had seen God’s “face” on Jesus just as he had!
  For an example, when Paul preached he said, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one” (Heb 3:10). Where is it written? In Psalm 14:3: “There is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Paul had not read the gospels because they had not been written. He recognized that the God of David had a face, and He was called Jesus.
  Jesus is the manifestation of God – God showing His Face. The Holy Spirit is the glow on God’s face – the source of hope. All the while, the Father is the Supreme Mind who planned and created all things.
  This commentary was written to provide understanding of the naturality and supernaturality of God. It identifies God as “one person” who is Jesus with three methods of revealing Himself to mankind. Jesus is the person of God with a personality. The Father is the Mind of God who is All-knowing and always Present. The Holy Spirit of God is the all-Powerful aspect of God.
  To fail to understand that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are not different “persons” is imperative. To separate those aspects of the One True God, is the Arian heresy. Christians have that heresy on a daily basis because they fail to understand that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all God but the three different ways that he reveals Himself to mankind!

Cause of the Davidic Plaque

  Theologians look for contradictions in the Bible. When King David conducted the census of the Israelites, there seems to be a discrepancy about who authorized the census, and why God was angry. Firstly, examine the two versions:

KEY VERSE (Samuel the Prophet’s Version):

And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah. (2 Sam 24:1)

KEY VERSE (Ezra the Scribe/Priest’s Version):

And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. (1 Chron 2:1)

  Did God authorize the numbering or did Satan, God’s adversary? From Job chapter one, we know that Satan can only do what God allows him to do. Satan’s role in that book was to test the faith of Job by certain trials. It seems that Samuel credited the Lord God with the numbering and Ezra, Satan. Testing the perceived error with scripture from the Book of Job indicates that the census was God’s idea and its implementation Satan’s.
  Subsequent to the census came the story of Araunah’s (Ornan’s) threshing floor whereon David built an altar to the Lord, obviously for the sin preceding that.

And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing place of Araunah the Jebusite.

And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.

And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. (2 Sam 16-18)

  It would appear that the census was required by God for His threshing of the Israelites. It has been assumed that the sin was the numbering of David’s people. In Ezra’s version that seems to be the case. Note however, in Samuel’s version, the reason is not given, but in Ezra’s version, both the Lord and David merely referred to the sin as this thing: “And God was displeased with this thing; therefore, he smote Israel. And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing“ (1 Chron 2:7-8).
  This thing is not named, but God authorized the census. Why would that be a sin? God wanted the numbering, obviously for his threshing. (Note that The Angel of God who threshed is pre-incarnate Jesus. God judges and punishes, but we will shortly find that Benaiah took that upon himself to do in the case of the Egyptian.)
  The plague was the manner in which God threshed the Israelites. The threshing floor represents God’s judgment. The Holy of Holies, in later days, was beneath the threshing stone (The Foundation Stone) and beneath it the abyss to Hell, according to some Jewish sources.
The souls of the deceased Israelites appeared to have been on the threshing floor, and some were sent to the holy place and others to Hades.  My point is that the census was not for David’s purposes, but for God’s, and that David surely was not punished for that!
  Why then were the Israelites punished, and consequently David? Did David even sin? Of course, he was responsible! Yesterday I wrote about the “three mighty men” - Adino (meaning “ornament”) the Eznite, Eleazar (Meaning “God helps”) the son of Dodo the Ahohite, and Shammah (meaning “the Lord’s presence) the son of Agee the Hararite.

  Let’s take time out for a moment: I contended that those “three mighty men” represented the Holy Trinity. (See my blog at https://kentuckyherrin.blogspot.com/2019/09/dont-cry-over-spilt-waters.html). Now examine the names: “God Helps” represents the Holy Spirit, “The Lord’s Presence” represents Jesus, and “The Ornament” represents the Father is to be glorified! I believe their names validate my hypothesis in yesterday’s commentary!

  I submit that the census was not sinful. True, David may have been proud of his accomplishments which the census enumerated, but scripture does not say that. That would be a supposition. Was there an obvious sin? Well, let’s examine scripture:

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lionlike men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow:

And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man: and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his own spear.

These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had the name among three mighty men.

He was more honourable than the thirty, but he attained not to the first three. And David set him over his guard. (2 Sam 23:20-23)

  I believe that Benaiah did the will of Satan.. Why so? (1) Satan is the name that Lucifer made for himself as he was trying to make himself as God (Isa 14:13), and what the people of Babylon were doing when they built the tower (Gen 11:4). And (2) Benaiah killed an innocent Egyptian - disrespectively with his own spear. Benaiah judged the Egyptian as unworthy of life. That, we soon found out, was what the threshing floor was for – God’s judgment. Benaiah presumed to be God, and his sin was the same as Moses whose punishment never entering The Promise Land. Lastly, (3) the three other men were “mighty” but Benaiah merely  “valiant” (“bold”).
  When people take an innocent life, they act as if they are gods. As we have seen, David’s taking of lives in war was ordained by God, but his taking the innocent life of Uriah for his own elevation (motives) were not.
  Benaiah may have thought himself one of the mighty three, and others did too, but he was not: “He attained not to the first three.” He was not mighty but only bold! As the first three were representatives of the Holy Trinity, Benaiah was more of a Judas.
  If you remember, Judas also died on a “tree” as Jesus did. But on the cross, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost experienced death. Judas was alone. God in all three “persons” died on the cross. His three “persons” were represented by those three mighty men. Benaiah was not quite as mighty; he judged the Egyptian just as Judas did when he judged himself.
  Judas means “traitor.” Benaiah means “Yahweh builds up.” It seems that Benaiah was destined to become as God; not because God builds up, but that Benaiah acted as God with His  authority.
I believe that the Israelites were punished because of Benaiah, and David felt guilty because of grace. As a type of Christ, he took Benaiah’s sin upon himself, and then built an altar for the redemption of Benaiah’s sin.
  The dead Egyptian was called “good” and we know that only God is good. He was more God-like than Benaiah who was only called “valiant.” Boldness facing Satan is an attribute but against God it is an affront. That offense had to be reconciled by judgment. That’s why the altar was built on the threshing floor.
   Benaiah is a great example of grace. He represented evil, but God atoned for his sin when others paid the penalty. As far as we know, Benaiah became a faithful servant after he was redeemed. That raises the question: Was Judas redeemed by Christ's death? Satan entered Judas, but he only used Benaiah. It turns out that when Benaiah became a changed man he too became a mighty warrior.

Don’t Cry Over Spilt Waters

  The chronicles of the kings were written by priests who left out much detail that was written in the books of Samuel and the Kings. One specific repetition was David’s longing to drink from the waters from the well at Bethlehem, then occupied by the Philistines:



KEY VERSES:

And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord. And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. (2 Sam 23:14-17)

  That account seems to be out of place and not significant to the text surrounding it. However, both writers deemed it significant and important.  Now let’s investigate why that may be.



  Bethlehem comes from the Latin Bethleem originally named after the Canaanite god Lehem. In the time of David, it was Beyth lechem (Strong’s Dictionary), thus would be the “house of bread.” Not by coincidence, Jesus is the “Bread of Life” and said, “He that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

  Well, David thirsted a drink of the water from the well at Bethlehem! Was that coincidence, or did the writers write that to point toward Jesus? I believe, because of context and its discontinuity, that the account was prophetic. David wanted a drink of “living water” (John 4:10); representing Jesus’s Holy Spirit, from the well of the Son of David - Jesus! Jesus also said, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).

  David would not drink of the water for which he longed, but “poured it out unto the Lord.” It would have been awkward and disrespectful if David had drunk that holy water, then urinated. Therefore, literally, David could not flow the living waters from his belly. Obviously, when Jesus spoke those words it was rhetorically. Jesus was referring to his own death: “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:34).

John explained that when he wrote:

This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.  (1 John 5:6-8)

  Christians are to be baptized by water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Mat 28:19). Baptism represents the death of sinners and rebirth of a new creature. However, it is not the water alone which saves, but the water and the blood. In other words, hearts must be circumcised (Deut 10:16). Thus, the living waters flowing from bellies represent circumcised hearts. Baptism is a testimony to the efficaciousness of the circumcised heart. It is not the entire flesh which dies, but the iniquitous hearts of repentant sinners.

  I believe that David was projecting forward to the sacrificial death of Jesus. The “three mighty men” risked their blood for David to pour out the water. It seems that the three mighty “men” represent the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

  Note that David need not risk his own life to obtain that water, but three mighty men did. As such, David was not worthy to drink for he did nothing for the water. The three mighty men risked their lives, and deserve that David spill the waters on their behalf. Although not at the same well as the Samaritan woman, that is the same type of water which Jesus was proclaiming to the woman Photina.

Just as Christians who do not risk their own lives for safety, neither did David. Three mighty men did for him, and Three Mighty Warriors did for us!

  David took a break from shedding blood to honor the blood that would be shed centuries later!  David, as Abraham before him, saw Jesus and him sacrificed. It was not only God’s Flesh that suffered on the cross, but Jesus’s Ghost which he gave up when it was finished, and the Father who is omnipresent. Three “Mighty Men” suffered on the cross – Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but no one died but the “Philistine” Satan, represented by Judas who hung himself on a tree.

  David knew he would defeat the Philistines and their false god, Lehem, in the House of Lehem. Not only were the Philistines defeated, but wars were fought to reveal whose god was stronger. Lehem lost the battle of the gods, and The Bread of Life won out! Bethlehem was transformed from the House of Lehem to the House of Bread!

  Lehem was the fertility god of the stars. Think on that. His star was over Bethlehem, but a brighter Star overshadowed it. Bethlehem is no longer thought of the House of Lehem, but the House of the Bread (of Life)! Not by coincidence the Star of Jesus supplanted the stars of Lehem:

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,  saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. (Mat 2:1-2).

  When David longed for water from the well at Bethlehem, he was really thirsting for living waters which would someday gush forth from Jesus’s belly.  David longed for the water in remembrance of Christ (Luke 22:19). Luke even reflected back on God’s mercy for Israel: “He hath helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy” (Luke 1:54.), “as he spake to our fathers” (Luke 1:55). Surely Luke was making reference to David thirsting for waters back centuries before!

  David foresaw victory as he was “remembering” Jesus’s death long afterward in the future. He saw Lehem’s star replaced by the star of Jesus and the Star Himself! He then went to battle, knowing the outcome, due to the promised Savior. Unlike David who poured forth the living waters, now all who have come to Jesus are worthy to drink of his cup (1 Cor 11:27).

  David, since Jesus had yet to die, grace had not flowed from his loin, and David was not worthy to drink. It was not by water alone that one is worthy, but it must be also by the blood:

And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. (Rev 16:5-6).

  The Angel of the Waters is Jesus. David knew that! We know that David refused the water as it represented the blood that could have been shed. Note that the three mighty men did not shed blood, but it was Jesus’s blood which was shed to win Bethlehem and defeat the Satan Philistines. That battle was fought because of the promise to Abraham. David was looking at the Covenant and its fulfillment. That was the day that the Abrahamic Covenant was revealed as the Covenant of Grace.

The Story of the Ten Concubines

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To Be or Not To Be

I Am or To Be? That Is the Question

KEY VERSE:

And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be. (2 Sam 15:21)

  Ittai was a Philistine general from Gath (Goliath’s city) who professed allegiance to King David over his son, Absalom, who was a pretender to the throne of all Israel. Ittai is one of the most common names in Israel to this day, and is a spiritual name given to converts to Judaism. It is to be noted that Ittai was converted from Goliath to David. Ittai means “If I forget thee O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning” (Psalm 137:5).
  As the name suggests, Ittai was devoted to Israel and David as the legitimate King of Israel. From the key verse, look how devoted: Ittai will be David’s servant whether in death or life. He was willing to die for King David.
  David is a type of Jesus Christ. Converted sinners are to be willing to die for Christ, and may be in the end (Rev 20:4). Jesus was also called “the son of David” by the Jews of his time. There are many places in the New Testament wherein Jesus is called “the son of David” but most notably, “Saying, ‘What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?’ They say unto him, ‘The son of David’” (Mat 22:42). In other words, forget Joseph and all the others because Jesus is the antitype to which David is the type! Jesus is the legitimate heir of the Kingdom of David. Absalom was not!
  In typology, then, Ittai was pledging allegiance to the House of David, not Absalom who was a type of Antichrist… “Whether in death or life.” David was alive. In death, the House of David would have a new righteous King. His name was called Jesus and he Is the Christ, as Jesus was heir to the Davidic throne. Ittai announced that he would be David’s servant forever; not only David’s servant but even unto death. It seems that Ittai was pledging servanthood to Jesus as King of the Jews.
  Ittai said as well, “Surely in what place my lord the king shall be… even there also will thy servant be.” Ittai would serve his lord. That implies that Ittai would also serve David’s Lord for at that time allegiance to a king meant allegiance to the king’s God. David was his lord and as such Yahweh was   Ittai’s Lord as well!
  Ittai had been converted from Dagon, likely a fertility god. We know that God toppled Dagon, cut off the palms of his hands, and destroyed him (1 Sam 5). Afterward Dagon was no longer worshiped!
  Yahweh, in Ittai’s eyes, diminished Dagon and elevated Himself, and diminishing himself is what Ittai would do as well. In NT theology, Ittai would have been said to be “born again” (John 3:7). Ittai was not only faithful to David but David’s God who would be called Jesus (Mat 1:16).
  Again, I point out that it is not Jesus and God, but Jesus Is God. Jesus used the Greek phrase ego eimai forty-eight times, meaning “I Am.” That Jesus and God are different “persons” is the Arian heresy. By devotion to David, in typology, Ittai was devoted to Jesus. He may not have realized that, but by his faithfulness to David, he was part of God’s Plan to further the Davidic Kingdom until Jesus would be King.
  Of course, Jesus was not only King of the Jews, but turned out to be King of the Philistines (Gentiles), and the entire world – Jew and Gentile. God so loved David that He wanted him not to perish, and he so loved Ittai with that intensity as well (John 3:16). Ittai appreciated that type of love, and pledged himself to be David’s and by association, God’s servant!
  There is great meaning when Ittai said, “Even there also will thy servant be” – in life and death. Ittai diminished himself and elevated David and his God. In life he would serve David, but in death David’s heir!
  I’ve written before that the root word for sin means “to be.” Ittai was pledging not to be sinful. His pledge transferred his allegiance to David and to his God. He was no longer the focus of “being” but David and God were. Ittai transferred his existence (being) to God as the ultimate Being or Existence. He no longer desired “to be” as God but serve God who Is (I Am).
  Throughout history, there has been a battle of wills. As created, Adam did the Will of God, but when he sinned, Adam did his own will. The Serpent actually hinted at the consequences of eating the forbidden fruit – they would perceive themselves “as gods.” (Gen 3:5). In other words, they were “to be” as gods. God, as “I Am” already Is God. By sinning they elevated themselves “to be” gods, and diminished God who said, “I Am.” Regeneration is a reversal of that… a return to the condition at the creation (generation) of mankind.
  In the beginning there was only God. Let’s make a table of existence:

EXISTENCE: SIN (TO BE) COMPARED TO GOOD (I AM)

Economy/Being	God	Mankind
Pre-creation	I Am the Alpha	You are not, but your soul is.
Creation	I Am in Spirit	You are in the flesh
Original Sin	I Am	You think you Are
In the world	I Am Spirit but generated Myself Flesh	You are flesh but want To Be as God; you are sin.
Jesus Crucifixion	I Am, but am willing To Be you	You cannot Be for I Am in your place
Born Again	I Am but chose To BE for you	You recognize that you are not meant To Be, but God Is
The Resurrection	I Am Alive	You can be
Sanctification	I Am with you	You belong to Me
Glorification	I Am as always	You are as Me because I regenerated you.
Eternity	I Am the Omega	You are with Me to serve Me

  Throughout time, humans are the “To Be’s” but God Is always “I Am.” Life seems to be all about us, unless we are persuaded to serve God as Ittai did when given the option of serving Absalom. As David was a type of Christ, Absalom was a type of Antichrist.  Would Ittai serve the Lamb or the Beast.
  The question is really not “to be or not to be” as Shakespeare questioned, but to whom do we belong: Absalom or David – the Antichrist or Christ?
  The philosopher, Rene Descartes, wrote, “I think, therefore I am.” Thinking does not make us God (I Am), but only in the image of God who is “The Great I Am.” The ability to think merely makes us want “To Be” the great “I Am.”
  Life, therefore, is all about the perception of ourselves relative to God. We will never be God, who Is Always Existence. 
  Sin is a reflection of our self-imposed independence from God, as humans are prone to reject God’s authority. Sin is us play-acting godhood. The penalty for that, as we have seen, is that as the idol Dagan was toppled, the idol ________ (your name here) must also be toppled. Your desire “To Be” will be replaced with “I Was” with the generating of a new nature.

On Prodigal Sons and Daughters

 The Parable of the Prodigal Son is also known as the Two Brothers, Lost Son, Loving Father, or Lovesick Father. We think of “prodigal” as a big-spender, but is more of a person who returns after an absence regardless as to why the absence.

  That parable means much to me because I have my own prodigal son. I even wonder who will be heir to my estate!

  The parable of the Prodigal Son is one of grace and restoration. The parable found in Luke 15:11-33 uses an unnamed family, son, brother, and father. That is good because the sons represent types of people. Hopefully it should be clear that the youngest, prodigal son represents Christians who leave the fold, the older brother one who has always followed the rules, the honored father, and the Father Himself – God. Of course, God at that time had a “face” and was called Jesus. The parable is more about the grace of the Loving Father than it is the sons.

  Where have we heard that story before, not as a parable, but as history? David was a loving father, and Absalom the prodigal son (2 Sam 14:25).

Now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me.

So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom. (2 Sam 14:32-33)

  In this real case, David is symbolic of the loving father, and of God Himself as can be seen from the following:

My lord (David) is wise, according to the wisdom of an (the) angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth. (2 Sam 14:20).

  The KJV uses “an angel of God” and the NKJV “the angel of God.” Both are accurate and convey different thoughts. “An angel” is generic; just a messenger. On the other hand, “The Angel of God” represents God Himself throughout scripture. David indeed was an angel as God’s messenger, but his wisdom did come from The Angel of God. Angels can be seen. Jesus is God manifested (John 1). David’s wisdom came from pre-incarnate Jesus. We don’t know if David saw Jesus or not, but the Word – who Is Jesus – spoke to him.

  Think on the profundity of that: Spiritists have wise ancestors who speak to them. Spiritual David had his all-knowing descendant speak to him!

  Absalom, in that story, was the prodigal son. Who in that story is the “good” son?  Like the good older son of the parable, who was not quite so good, perhaps Amnon, the elder son of David was the faithful son of the parable! Because he was eldest, by primogeniture, Amnon was heir to the throne and all that David had. Amnon fit the definition of “prodigal” of spendthrift. How so? He squandered his inheritance by disrespecting his father (David).

  At first glance, it appears that Amnon’s sin was incestual rape (2 Sam 13:14). However, look what the abused sister had said, “Thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king; for he will not withhold me from thee.” (2 Sam 13:13).

  Intermarriage between half brothers and sisters was not considered so wrong by the people at that time. However, dishonoring a woman was. Tamar was speaking of honor when she suggested that her brother do the honorable thing and get the blessing of King David. The problem with Amron was that he dishonored his sister, his father, and The Father by raping his sister.

  In other words, Amron wasted away his inheritance due to a moment of lust. In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, did the older brother do something similar? We find that the eldest son was angry with his father because of his grace. Amron was to receive the greater inheritance, and he squandered his heritage. The older son in the parable lusted as well. He wanted the love that the father showed the younger son!

  Amron, the eldest, lusted as well. He soon found out that the satisfaction from his sexual lust was only temporary; after raping Tamar he no longer wanted her!

  We don’t know the penalty for the elder son in the parable, but Amron’s penalty was death. In the parable, the younger son was rewarded by grace:

And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.

It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. (Luke 15:31:32).

  The elder son, by primogeniture, was to have the bulk of the estate of the father. He said, “All that I have is thine.” Compare that to Amron; the Kingdom of David would have been his!

About the younger son, the father in the parable said, “Thy brother was dead, and is alive again.” When Absalom hid out from David in Geshur for three years, David subsequently allowed his return because he loved his son so much! To David, his son had been as dead, but upon his return, Absalom was alive again! Absalom was lost but now he was found.

  Absalom came home to Jerusalem but could not see the king in person. “The king’s face” was forbidden for him to see. With that, David was symbolic of Jesus. In scripture, “the face of God” is Jesus Christ. Moses did not see “God’s face” until he was summoned to Jesus’s transfiguration.

Unlike the father in the parable who received his son immediately, it took David two years to meet face to face with Absalom! David had some apprehension in that Absalom was a pretender to David’s throne, and it would have been his by primogeniture. (The second son had died). Absalom was dead and made alive. He was lost but then was found. David had his son and heir back, but Absalom’s attitude was different than the prodigal son’s. Why?

  The prodigal son had no rights to the inheritance and expected nothing. Absalom, although a prodigal son, in the sense that he remained greedy, he still expected David’s grace, and coveted the throne with David still alive. Absalom was not truly made alive. He was spiritually dead. Unlike the prodigal son, Absalom, faithful for a while, fell back to his usual attitude of expectance. He was ungracious and disrespectful to David, and was to God as well.

  Absalom, it turned out, “crucified” his father a second time. Of course, the first was when he was lost, but the second was when he returned home by grace and fell away. Paul commented on that type of attitude:

If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. (Heb 6:6)

  What had Amron done? Put David to shame. Tamar said so! What did Absalom do? Put David to shame by turning against his father. That was disrespectful to the Fifth Prescription for eternal health: “Honor thy father and thy mother.” That one “Prescription” offers a prognosis: “That thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee” (Exod 20:12).

Absalom failed to honor his father and had an early demise. He was just as prodigal, but in different ways than Amron. Both would be king, and live long lives, but they both were irreverent to their father.

  Reverence to one’s father, is how reverence is shown to God the Father. If someone is irreverent to their parents, most often they too are irreverent to their Father in Heaven.

  Absalom was lost then found. That implies that by grace he was safe. He blew his safety by coveting what his father had. He wanted his inheritance before the time came, just as the prodigal son.

I believe that in the parable, both sons were prodigal but by different definitions. Both expected something from the father, coveting what he had, but the lost son was more forthright. The older son coveted as well, but was more dutiful, albeit they both desired what the father had.

In the case of Amron and Absalom, they were both prodigal, and Absalom even tried to “crucify” his father a second time. Paul was surely thinking of that when he wrote to the Hebrews who knew the story of Absalom well!

  The Parable of the Prodigal Son means much to me because I am the Loving Father. In my own family, my prodigal son left me for the lust of Maryjane. He fled to his own Gushur and remains there. Whenever he chooses to come home, I am here with welcoming arms. That’s because I am the loving father much like in the parable.

  There are terms to grace. The younger prodigal son came home humbled and had reverence for his father. However, Absalom came home on his terms and never had reverence for his father, David. A short-term reconciliation was not enough. The story of Absalom transmits the message that grace is contingent on the attitude of the recipient. When Absalom dishonored the father, he dishonored God and his life was cut short. Reconciliation must be forever!

  I pray for my son; not for that we share only mutual love, but that he will come to love and trust God for solace. Maryjane won’t do the trick, and neither would Amron’s “maryjane” – Tamar. We all have our love… she just goes by different names, but when she is obtained, it is found that lust is not love!

On Forgetting God

KEY VERSES:

Now consider this, you who forget God,

Lest I tear you in pieces,

And there be none to deliver:

Whoever offers praise glorifies Me;

And to him who orders his conduct aright

I will show the salvation of God. (Psalm 50:22-23 NKJV)

  God will never forget us! As is written, “I shall never leave or forsake you” (1 Kings 8:57). On the other God does “forget” our sins as He will remember them no more (Heb 8:12). That is metaphoric; it obviously means that God will no longer hold sins against those who repent and are born again (his mercy).  In the key verse, it says “You who forget God.”

  People don’t “forget” God either, as He never forgets them. As long as we live, God will always remind people. That’s what The Law is for! A better transliteration from the Hebrew is “mislay” God. We think of mislaying as forgetting, but it is not that simple; it is “to put in an unremembered place,” or i.e., “to lose” (Merriam-Webster Dict.). That implies that the person once knew God and had a place for Him, but no longer loves or respects Him.

  At The Last Supper, Jesus said, “This do, in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). God can be lost! If Jesus has no place in our lives, whatever people had before can be lost. In other words, God’s sacrifice of His only begotten son must never be forgotten nor taken for granted. I believe that the Third Commandment addresses the issue of forgetting Jesus’s (God’s Name) purpose which was to die for mankind. The Jews continually misplaced God. Usually, God had no place in the lives of most of them. They never truly forgot what God had done for them, but failed to trust Him for ongoing deliverance.

  The same applies to modern-day Christians. People have five-minutes of contrition, know God, but misplace Him in their lives. Faith must be ongoing and endure to the end: “He that endureth to the end shall be saved” (Mat 10:22). The end is not to the end of the church service or until baptized; it is enduring until death.

  For those who lose (misplace) God, because God doesn’t lose anyone or anything, there is a penalty. He will tear those to pieces, and not deliver (save) them in the end. Some say that apostates never knew God in the first place. Scripture is at odds with that; they knew Him for a time, then misplaced God in their lives. What little faith they had waned until it was depleted. The penalty for that is destruction. Although God wants that “none should perish” (John 3:16), if they lose any remembrance of God in their lives, they will perish. Forgetting, losing, misplacing, and such translations means that those who once followed God knew Him before, but have put Him out of mind.

  How can Christians remember God? Of course, by taking the Lord’s Supper, but that alone is not enough! That requires worthiness (1 Cor 11:11). What makes one worthy to drink and eat the elements? Judas was not worthy, but he likely took Holy Communion although he certainly “misplaced” his faith in Jesus.

  Many question why Jesus selected Judas in the start. Judas knew Jesus and was willing to follow him, but somewhere along the line, he misplaced his faith. That may be why it is said, “For the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tim 6:10). Of course, Judas mislaid Jesus for real money, but a more concise definition in “avarice” (Strong’s Dictionary) – the love of the things of the world (Epicureanism of which Paul rebuked.)

  Then in the second verse, the psalmist indicated who is “worthy” with the words, “Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his conduct aright.” There are two requirements  to be worthy: (1) Offering glorifying praise to God, and (2) Righteous living. The first is to diminish oneself and ones desires, and elevate God for who He Is! That is called “born again” and is the only “must be” (John 3:7) in the New Testament.

  The second thing to be worthy of salvation is living Christlike; that is righteousness. Christians will fail, but like the game of horseshoes, effort is rewarded. Those who have misplaced God in their lives make no effort to be righteous, possibly because they know they will fail, but certainly because they prefer the things of the world (avarice). Christians don’t lose their free will or misplace it. All sin is the willingness to prefer oneself over God. Too much of that attitude mislays the importance of God.

Then the psalm reads, “I will show you the salvation of God.” Being born again is seeing the light (John 3:21) which indicates that “born again” is an illumination of truth. It is not salvation, nor even really regeneration. It is the willingness to be like God, although “very good” cannot be achieved, as it was at the generation of mankind. With rebirth, God shows the new Christian salvation. They “shall be saved,” (Acts 2:21), but that is sometime subsequent to rebirth. “Shall” refers to the end of life wherein anyone shall either perish or delivered from perishing.

  Christians run the race, walk the path, and see the prize ahead (1 Cor 9:24). The prize of which the psalmist wrote was at the end of life. God shows the prize of salvation to those illuminated, but it is not immediately experienced! Because Christian see the prize as if it is at hand, they have the assurance of salvation, as long as they look at what God shows them. Like Paul indicated, Christians must look ahead to the prize. Not looking forward to what God shows, is forgetting what He showed at rebirth. As the psalmist wrote, that tearing apart is perishing. God wants that you not perish, but your part is looking ahead to the prize, and never looking back at the world as Lot’s wife did and perished.

  This commentary is Arminian Doctrine. I believe it is truth as tested by Holy Scripture. I wish that Calvinist Doctrine was the truth because it relieves the Christian of the responsibility of remembering God by glorifying Him and living rightly. That is not to say that most Calvinists do not do that, but believe it is not necessary to remember God in all things.

  Dietrich Bonnhoeffer coined the term, “cheap grace.” It seems that misplacing the Will of God is cheap grace. God’s Will is to be praised, and that you be righteous. Failure to do that takes Jesus’s death as trivial. To demonstrate true love for redemption, it is appropriate to glorify God and live according to His prescriptions.