"Enquiring NOT in the days of King Saul"

“Enquiring NOT in the days of Saul”

Brief intro:

This is after the death of the very first king of Israel. The death of king Saul (the peoples/carnal choice).

His name in Hebrew means = “asked for”

David had just been appointed king, and the very first thing King David does was plan to return the ark of the covenant back to Israel.

lets read:

Key verse:

1 Chronicles 13:3 KJV 1900

3 And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we inquired not at it in the days of Saul.

1 Chronicles 13:3 ESV

3 Then let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul.”

I want to entitled this thought

“Enquiring NOT in the days of Saul”

I strongly believe that we ALL desire for the presence of God and his spirit, love, peace and grace.

especially in the times we live in. But, it can be so easy it can be to disconnect from the presence of God and replace it with what the world feeds us with if we are not careful, wether its through:

social media

the news

politics

etc

As the scripture read; “ AND LET US BRING AGAIN THE ARK OF OUR GOD TO US”

The key word is “Again” - once more. Lets bring back prayer to our country, Godly morals, devotion within your families, and mainly his presence.

Now you may ask, “how were the days Saul”?

prior to his kingship, this era was in a time as the bible describes a time “when the judges ruled” and everyone did what right in their own eyes.

tribes would fight within tribes and they would burn down each other cities. there were massive killings.

there was also present:

1. sexual abuse

2. violence (which led to a civil war)

3. no order

4. political and religious turmoil

5. famine (the book of Ruth)

6. division and disunity between the people of God

We see in the book of Judges, at the very end of that book it gives them the reason for their own self destruction with a statement.

“ISRAEL HAS NO KING”

You can see the heart of the people of God in the beginning of 1st Samuel

Israel and their arch nemesis the Philistines went to war, and instead of Israel praying and seeking God to grant them the victory, they got the ark of the covenant and used it as a Trophy to defeat the Philistines.

God did not grant them the victory, but gave them defeat. in a nutshell God was teaching them to have less pride but rather have a contrite heart and spirit that God WILL NOT decline.

Their heart was revealed there

Those roots that were never cut down led to their selection of a king

So the time came when the people of God wanted a king therefore they go to the Prophet Samuel and “ask for” a king.

The Prophet enquires to the lord the petition of his people.

God says, fine if this is what they want than give it to them.

The people did not enquire to the lord to help select a king. They simply did it all themselves.

The bible says they selected Saul to become their king.

What were there reason in selecting King Saul?

Bible says he was tall

He was handsome and there was no one more handsome than Saul

In their eyes, he was the perfect candidate to be their king

however King Saul had deep character flaws:

dishonest

lacked integrity

seems incapable of acknowledging his own mistakes

5. he begin to ignore and wait on the lord and begin to handle things in his own hands

The prophet warned the people that if any king would not humble himself they would lead them their destruction.

King Saul had hardly few victories and a whole lot of defeats

the days of Saul and the judges were perilous times.

i look at those times and I compare them to our times and they look very similar

With chaos going on in the world:

our country being divided more than ever

many doing as they please and what is right in their own eyes

looting, un-peaceful riots

injustice

A decline in Godly morals

You can fill in the blanks and see the comparisons

In the times of King Saul to me in seemed like a Godless time, a time of self indulgence, power, and pride.

I look at the world today and the opposing evil spirits attacking our country. A country that was based on Godly biblical, principles .

Going back to scriptures. the bible says that God had chosen king David as king, and not the “people”.

We a followers of Christ during these times, desperately need to cling on to prayer (in the spirit) and the word of God more than anything!

I am totally am for doing justly, and loving mercy, but it should NEVER replace the presence of God. We should always walk humbly with our God.

we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against spirits and it is only by the POWER of GOD that can bring forth peace, change, unity, justice and healing.

David understood that. He understood that the only way he was going to bring:

unity

change

peace

victory

healing

and so forth

was by returning the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem (the church).

David says we must return the presence of God back!

God wants be first above all things.

God gave David many victories and David is considered the greatest king in the history of Israel.

God wants to give you the victory over your life, mind, over your family and your city!

But God wants your heart to return back to him so he can use you in these times and give you victory and peace!

There were several steps that had to be done in order for the ark of the covenant to return back to Jerusalem (the church, you are the church).

POINT ONE:

THE OIL & WATER AFFECT

We have all done this experiment in Chemistry, where we mix oil and water and other liquids as well, depending on how well funded your school was.

This is known as heterogeneous mixtures.

In a heterogeneous mixture, the liquids do not blend smoothly throughout, and the mixtures can typically be separated back into their individual components through chemical or physical means.

2 Samuel 6: 3-7 says;

2 Samuel 6:3–7 KJV 1900

3 And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart. 4 And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God: and Ahio went before the ark. 5 And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals. 6 And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. 7 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.

We see here that the people of God got a “new cart,” put the ark of the covenant upon it and had the oxen transport the ark of the covent back to Jerusalem.

A. new = to something not previously known

B. Here we see the people of God doing a NEW thing. they are transporting the ark the way they want,

instead of doing it the “the old way” or the way they had been taught. They do a new thing by putting in on a cart and having the oxen carry it.

C. The worst thing of it all is that they had adopted this way from the Philistines! When the Philistines conquered the ark. They transported it in a cart.

D. So we see here that they adopted pagan customs. In others words they wanted to do things their way and serve God (as they praised) and have victory in their own terms and with Pagan customs.

E. I feel like today more than ever we need to stay away from the customs or trends of this world, but rather depend and ask for guidance from God. Only he will lead us to all understanding and justice.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God”

GOD DOES NOT NEED YOUR HELP!

We sometimes want to assist God and forget that its only by his power, might and holy spirit that we can conquer those oppositions we are facing.

“I am the Lord; that is My name. And My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images”

This why it led to the death of UZZAH = STRENGTH.

Again they tried to help God and use their own strength as the ark was about to fall to the ground.

just like you cannot mix oil with water you cannot help God. its all GOD and nothing of you. we are just instruments/vessels

Church God wants to give us victory!

The intentions of the people of God were good. They were heading in the right direction.

God was going to do great things in their lives however it came at a cost.

which leads to my next point:

POINT 2:

“THE THRESHING ELEMENT”

It almost seems like God told the people of God,

okay i have allowed you to come this far and have some success

However if you want to go see victory and go deeper you must go through the process of threshing

Scripture says:

2 Samuel 6:6 KJV 1900

6 And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it.

He stopped them from advancing right at a threshing floor.

Question: What is a threshing floor?

A threshing floor is a smooth, flat surface that was used to process the harvested grain. Before there was machinery, farmers used a threshing floor to separate the grain from the chaff. The harvested produce would be spread over the threshing floor and then animals (cattle or oxen) would be led over it, to crush and break the sheaves apart with their hooves. At times, people used sticks to beat the sheaves apart. The grain would be separated from the husks, or chaff and then tossed into the air so that the wind could blow the chaff away, leaving only the good, edible grain. This was called "winnowing."

It is my belief that God will allow you to do as you please, but if you want true victory, joy, and peace you have to do it his way.

A threshing floor was more than just a place to separate wheat from the chaff.

It has a deeper meaning to it.

There are several verse in the bible that show that the word altar and threshing floor are connected.

Numbers 18:27 KJV 1900

27 And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress.

1 Chronicles 21:18 KJV 1900

18 Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

1 Chronicles 22:1 KJV 1900

1 Then David said, This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.

You heard me speak about the heterogeneous mixture. There is also the Homogeneous mixture.

Homogeneous mixture is the total opposite = one that is mixed or blended together so well that all of the ingredients will NOT separate. ( we see this examples in food, with spices and liquids creating yummy delicious food!)

When we combine worship (building an altar) with the threshing element. You are victorious in Jesus!

No Demon in hell can stop the power and God empowers you with.

In the Old Testament we find an interesting relationship between worship and the “threshing floor”. As we begin to explore this relationship we find some interesting things, which God has to say to us through this analogy.

Let us consider what the threshing floor represents in the Scriptures. Its meaning goes beyond merely “the place where grain was threshed”. It is symbolic of the relationship between the Bride and the Bridegroom. It is not insigificant that Ruth came to Boaz at the “threshing floor” (Ruth 3:6-14). Boaz represents Christ (our kinsman redeemer) and Ruth, the Bride of Christ.

At the center of the threshing floor, one finds two large flat stones, one resting on the top of the other. They were “fitted and joined” together. The top stone was known as the “female” and the bottom stone the “male”. The “grinding of grain” was a depiction of the consummation of marriage (Job 31:10).

The consummation of marriage is a physical depiction of the “spiritual communion” God desires between Himself and Man. When God’s covenant people stray from Him and worship other gods, God calls it “adultery” or “playing the harlot” (Ezek. 23:37, Hosea 4:12). Notice what God says to Israel in Hosea 9:1, “You have loved harlots earnings on every threshing floor”.

I believe God was telling the people and David enough with you trying yo help me or do things on your own.

Go through this threshing element and it will produce true worship and victory

Is not that what the God is seeking?

John 4:23 KJV 1900

23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

In order to fulfill your calling and purpose you have to allow God to come into your life and filter out all those things in your heart that are destroying you and not giving you peace.

Please listen to this God will not allow you to go further and grant you the victory until you go through that element of threshing.

my last example is,

Our lord Jesus Christ:

Right before Jesus is about to be crucified. scriptures say he went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. There we prayed at an Altar.

Gethsemane = A place of pressing Olives

At an alter he prayed

Not sure if anyone knows the process of crushing olives

Olives were placed on a stone and a heavy rock would crush the oxen.

first press was given to the priest, etc

second press was used for cooking

third was used for minor things

The image of the Gethsemane on the slope of the Mount of Olives where Jesus went the night before his crucifixion provides a vivid picture of Jesus' suffering. The weight of the sins of the world pressed down upon him.

His sweat, "like drops of blood falling from to the ground" (Luke 22:44), flowed from him like olive oil as it was squeezed out and flowed into the pit of an olive press.

they pressed the baskets three times[ Jesus prayed three times)

Jesus being God could have take the easy way out and given justice to his people how he pleased.

however you learned how to rely on God no matter what.

the bible says that when uzziah died the ark was left at the house of Obededom

It was left there for three months

number three represent perfection to a lesser degree than the number seven

bible says David heard how the lord blessed the house of Obededom David desired once more to bring the ark of the covenant back!

but, he didn’t bring it back to way he did the first time

Those 3 months at the threshing floor changed the heart of David!

God was perfecting him and filtering out all those pagan custom they had adopted and returned their hearts back to GOD!

This leads to my final point:

POINT 3:

“SEEKERS OF HIS PRESENCE”

Scriptures says....

2 Samuel 6:13 NIV

13 When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf.

after they had take six steps on the seventh step they offered a sacrifice.

this what the lord told me:

6= the number of Man

7= is the number of God

i believed they finally understood that they can only do so much but on the 7th step they offered a sacrifice

Romans 12:1 KJV 1900

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

we now are living sacrifices

7 means completion

we are humans and understand that we must die to ourselves and allow God to do the rest!

Now they offered God true worship!

David was a seeker of God there are many scriptures in the bible that show that. here being one

Psalm 27:4 KJV 1900

4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

the Bible says that when they marched into the city of David

david was dancing and rejoicing with all of his might in the streets

I know alot of people are protesting in the streets and God bless them

Kings david praised and worship God in the streets

The bible says that in 2nd Samuel that God gave David and the people rest from all of his enemies