2
ND
SAMUEL
Week 33, chapters 21 and 22

Last time we concluded the disturbing story of King David’s solution for ending a famine (that
had been caused by a 3 year drought). There is no doubt that the drought was of divine origins
because David inquired of the Lord and the Lord plainly said He was causing the drought. The
difficulties for us begin when YHWH also tells David that His withholding of the rains was due
to blood guilt caused by King Saul and his household when they unjustly committed mass
homicide upon certain members of the Benjamite city of Gibeon. These certain members were
not Hebrews, but were ethnic Amorites whose ancestors had made a peace treaty almost 4
centuries earlier with Joshua. One of the complexities of our story is that this ancient peace
treaty had invoked Yehoveh’s name as the guarantor of its terms, and so when Saul killed the
Gibeonites he also defiled God’s holy name by violating the covenant of peace.

After David turned over 7 men, descendants of Saul, to the Gibeonites for them to execute for
blood revenge they were killed, impaled on stakes, and then left to rot. But Rizpah, a former
concubine of King Saul and mother of 2 of the victims, camped out at the place where the 7
men’s bodies were disrespectfully being displayed in order that she might discourage birds
and jackals from picking at the decaying flesh. She faithfully remained there from around April
to (probably) August. We are told that once the seasonal rains began, she took this as a
heavenly sign that the curse of the drought had been lifted and so went home to Jerusalem.

David was so impressed by Rizpah’s faithfulness (and no doubt to some degree or another felt
that her dedication had something to do with God once again allowing water to fall from the
skies) that he too was moved to action and so he not only had the skeletal remains of the 7
corpses retrieved, but he also sent a team of men to Jabesh-Gilead to bring the ashes of King
Saul and Jonathan back into Israel for a proper burial in their home tribal territory of Benjamin.

When all this is done we get the words in 2
nd
Samuel 21: 14 that “only after that was God
prevailed on to show mercy to the land”. The usual Christian theological conclusion of this
episode is that thus we see that human blood had to be shed (painful as it was) in order for the
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blood guilt caused by Saul to be atoned for. And many ancient and modern Hebrew
theologians see it generally the same (although not necessarily for the same reasons). And to
all this I said I strongly disagree because these conclusions completely ignore the Torah Laws
that would govern this matter (you can review last week’s lesson for the details). Rather what
we actually see here is a horrific (but rather par-for-the-course) illicit mixing of God’s laws with
manmade doctrine, political expediency, religious superstitions, and paganized thoughts. And
as we wind down the Book of 2
nd
Samuel, and David’s life, this is the general condition of
God’s chosen people in the era of the Kings.

Before we finish chapter 21 I want us all consider that before we shake our heads in sadness
or disgust at these ancient Hebrews, modern Judaism and much (though by no means all) of
modern Christianity is on a parallel path. Manmade doctrines that purport to speak for the
Scriptures often override God’s holy Word. Historically pagan symbols and rituals have been
woven into our worship practices, holidays, and even into our speech. And unless we
determine to carefully examine even the most basic tenants of our faith, and compare them to
Holy Scripture, we have no idea such improper ideas and foreign beliefs are even there.

David reacted on impulse and normal religious and social protocol for his day; this is what we
tend to do as well. He determined that he was doing what was right, solving a problem that the
Lord had put before him. But had he thought to consult God’s Word, instead of relying on
embedded cultural traditions or the council of men whom he considered to be religious experts,
no doubt the route he took to try and expiate the blood guilt caused by Saul would have been
very different. I also have no doubt that had he taken the course of action that is prescribed
by the Torah that he would have faced nearly universal resistance from his royal court and
from his people. Why? Because it would have been unfamiliar to them.

Today many of you (us) who have for a long time sensed that something is not quite right
about where we have arrived in our journey with the Lord, and that something essential is
amiss within our cherished religious institutions, have pressed the Pause button. You have
determined to go to the source, the Bible, and see what God has to say about things, rather
than continuing to rely on what men have to say about what God has to say. And you are
meeting a lot of resistance, aren’t you? You try to show others what the Word of God says,
and they look at you like you have horns and are snorting fire. You are accused of causing
disunity in the Body, or even of rejecting Christ. Sometimes your family becomes greatly
concerned for you, perhaps even shuns you. Your pastors and ministers do all they can to
remind you that you are merely a layman and that they are the ones who are the experts and
the keepers of God’s truth; for you to study Holy Scripture (especially if it includes the Old
Testament) is a danger to your spiritual health and well being.

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You and I have the same choice before us as David had: seek God’s Word and in obedience
do what is right in the Lord’s eyes (and certainly encounter resistance). Or we can continue
with what has become normal and customary within our Western society and religious circles
because then we’ll not disrupt our comfortable and familiar situation; or even worse, we’ll not
have to admit our wrong, repent, and make changes to our lives and lifestyles.

READ REVELATION 3:1 – 6

This message from Messiah was written to End Times worshippers of the God of Israel and the
primary message is: Wake up! We have strayed onto the wrong path, think everything is fine,
but are in the greatest danger of being removed from the Book of Life. We have been
operating on Auto-pilot for so long, placing our confidence in doctrines and religious
institutions, that we have stopped looking to the Word of God (who is Yeshua) for truth.

Let’s move on and re-read the final verses of 2
nd
Samuel chapter 21.


RE-READ 2
ND
SAMUEL 21:15 – end


This appendix that lists various happenings of David’s life continues with a series of notices of
wars that David fought with the Philistines. These brief accounts were compiled from various
chronicles and are given to us at this point as practical proofs that on numerous occasions the
Lord graciously delivered David from the hands of his enemies. In fact, in retrospect, it
probably would have been better to conclude chapter 21 at verse 13, and then to attach this
final part of chapter 21 as the opening of chapter 22. And the reason is that here we have the
recounting of these marvelous deliverances of David as preparation for a song of David that
glorifies God as the one who delivers him.

No doubt the reference in verse 15 about David leading the battle and getting tired is at a time
of middle age for David, when he spends most of his time tending to state matters and little
time training his body for the rigors of combat. Whereas David was always rescuing someone
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else earlier in his life (especially before he became king), now we have his nephew Avishai
having to rescue David (in a nick of time I might add).

It is interesting to me that we are reminded of the giants of Gath (Gath was a major Philistine
city/state). In fact we see Goliath’s name mentioned here, and it has caused some needless
consternation among Bible teachers because they see a conflict between the time when David
as the young shepherd boy battled and beheaded the warrior Goliath. But it seems that Golyat
(Goliath) was a common name among this race of people and so it was another and different
Goliath that is being spoken of here.

The result of this near miss on David’s life prompted his generals to insist that he stay home in
the safety of his palace fortress called the City of David and this because he is the “lamp of
Israel” and thus too important to take risks. More than likely this term equates to how me might
today say that a particular leader is the “heart and soul” of a nation or a family. It isn’t meant
to be taken terribly spiritually, but rather is an epithet meant to eulogize someone for their great
merit and importance to the community.

Verses 18 onward (to me) seems mainly to chronicle the demise of this declining race of giants
that had thrown in with the Philistines and contributed greatly to the air of invincibility that had
propelled the Philistine war machine for so long. In the Bible the race is called the Anakim and
alternately the Rephaim and they eventually died out as their limited gene pool shrank into
oblivion not long after David’s time. Why they died out rather quickly is easily explained; they
were always upfront in every battle. Since they were so large and fearsome they were put at
the vanguard of every conflict as a means to frighten the enemy. Thus they were also always
the most vulnerable.

We are even told of one of these giants who had 6 fingers and 6 toes and such a medical
phenomenon of having an extra digit on an extremity is actually quite common among people
who are unusually tall.

One statement in verse 18 bears a little more scrutiny because when properly translated it
helps us to better understand the intent. Where most Bibles (as with our CJB) will say, “one of
the sons of the giant”, what it actually says in the original Hebrew is, “yalid ha Rapha”. This
translates literally to, “born to Rapha”. The ancient Hebrew sages explain that Rapha is the
name of the father of the race named after him the Rephaim (or in another way to spell it,
Raphaim). So as an analogy this would be like calling David, “one born to Israel”. Jacob called
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Israel isn’t David’s biological father, but rather this is a means of explaining ancient family ties
that today we would called a race of people (in David’s case called Israel-ites).

Let’s move on to chapter 22. This is long chapter, and although we’ll read it all in one sitting,
we’ll later on re-read portions as we go.

READ 2
ND
SAMUEL 22 all


First notice (as I mentioned earlier) how the first words of this chapter speak to David’s
deliverance from his enemies; and this immediately follows the short listing of battles with the
Philistines in chapter 21. So we would be far better to begin this chapter by starting at verse 15
of the previous chapter in order to see that it was all intended to flow together as a single
thought.

This chapter is known as David’s Psalm (or Song) of Thanksgiving and is also duplicated in its
entirety in the Book of Psalms as Psalm 18. There are some differences between 2
nd
Samuel
22 and Psalm 18, but they are generally few and minor. Some regard this song as sort of
David’s last words; but perhaps it is more of a summation of what he has learned over his
lifetime about God, about kingship, about God’s kingdom, and there are even some prophetic
utterances of a future king and a future kingdom that are Messianic in nature.

Almost certainly this was written in his old age as he is reflecting on the full range of dangers
and deliverances that he experienced. Much of this is written using figurative and poetic
speech. Thus we have (for instance) God riding upon a Cherub, shooting arrows, and
breathing smoke and fire. None of this is real; rather it is just a way to express a principle or a
characteristic using common illustrations that people of David’s day would understand.
Further, sometimes particular words were chosen in order to achieve the rhythmic and metered
attributes of poetry rather than for a precision of meaning.

The other thing that becomes obvious in this Psalm is that we see the ultimate cosmic
conundrum expressed that both Judaism and Church have struggled with mightily; it is that
God has two primary attributes that are totally at odds with one another, and thus seem
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impossible for the same being to hold simultaneously. On the one hand YHWH mercifully and
lovingly watches over His worshippers and saves and delivers them from trouble; and on the
other hand He is a fierce and ruthless warrior-God who punishes and destroys (usually his
enemies but at times His own worshippers who have become unfaithful). These are
characteristics that are Biblically associated with the Messiah as well that again both Judaism
and Christianity have struggled to harmonize or (sometimes) even to accept.

Judaism calls the saving attribute of God that is manifested in the Messiah as Ben Yosef (son
of Joseph). They call the fierce and ruthless warrior manifestation as Messiah Ben David (son
of David). Thus Judaism solves the problem by saying that since it is impossible that a single
being could harbor these opposite attributes then there will be two Messiahs (one that is a
Deliverer, the other that is a destructive Warrior). Christianity has generally solved the problem
by saying that Messiah is ONLY a Deliverer, and the Warrior attribute is dead and gone and
belongs only to the Old Testament God. Thus the Church tends to apologize for the former
blood thirsty God of the Hebrew Bible who has (thankfully) been replaced by the loving and self-
sacrificial God of the New Testament. As I once reminded a dear friend of mine who indeed is
the poster child for this view that our New Testament Messiah’s character is a singular one of
mercy, peace and love; then who is this mysterious person who leads the saints into the battle
of Armageddon, personally killing millions of the enemy, until blood in that enormous valley of
their conflict rises to the level of a horses’ bridle?

Therefore this Psalm of David is actually looking ahead to one Messiah that appears in two
manifestations at two different times; or as modern Evangelical Christians call it, the 1
st
coming
and the 2
nd
coming. In the 1
st
coming of Messiah (the Messiah of the Gospels) he is indeed the
loving Deliverer. In the 2
nd
coming (the Messiah of the Book of Revelation) he is a fierce
ruthless warrior and a king over all mankind (not just Israel) who will annihilate his enemies
and rule the entire earth with a rod of iron.

OK. So let’s dissect David’s Song of Thanksgiving.

In verse 1 David is thanking Yehoveh for delivering him from all of his enemies and from the
power of Saul. Thus David considers his “enemies” as those who are attacking him on a
national basis for a national purpose. That is, they want to rule over Israel, or they want to
absorb Israel into their foreign empire (as the Philistines), or they want to destroy Israel. David
distinguishes them from King Saul who (if he is even considered an enemy) attacks David on a
personal level for personal purposes. David never disputed that Saul was the rightful, God
appointed king. Rather it was that the paranoid and delusional Saul saw David as a rival to be
squashed at a time when David had no ambition to rule over Israel and was totally loyal to King
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Saul.

In verse 2 we start seeing some beautiful and grand figurative and metaphorical expressions
that describe Yehoveh. And, by the way, over and over in this piece (even though our Bibles
obscure it) the Lord’s formal name YHWH is expressed as opposed to the words of our
English translations such as God or Lord or Adonai. The first expression used describes God
as a Rock. The Hebrew word used in this instance for rock is selah. Selah refers to a cliff or a
crag (a rocky outcropping) located upon a high place. It is meant to be coupled to the next
description of the Lord as David’s fortress and Deliverer, and then in verse 3 as the place of
refuge. So the mental picture that we are to get is of God bringing David up to an impenetrable
high place and protecting him. The ancients all thought of their gods as living on mountain tops
(this included the Hebrews). Thus the first Biblical name or title given to God is El Shaddai
(God of the Mountain). And we have Moses meeting God on a mountaintop (Mt. Sinai). The 2
nd
use of the word rock is a different Hebrew word: tsur. And tsur more refers to a boulder (the
way we typically think of a rock). Tsur is regularly used in the Bible metaphorically as a symbol
of stability and strength.

Verses 2 -4 is a kind of summation of the theme of the entire Psalm; divine deliverance from
David’s agitated life so full of its ups and downs. How many times David must have thought
that there could be no hope for tomorrow, and at other times how tomorrow seemed so secure
and certain. And these various descriptions of God are not only about WHO God is (deliverer,
defender, savior) but also what God DOES. So David is glorifying the Lord not just for His
character but for His actions.

Verse 5 presents water as a violent flood of death enveloping David, and also poetically terms
them the floods of Belial (your Bibles may say destruction). We’ve encountered the term
Belial a number of times, usually in the phrase bene Belial (sons of worthlessness). The idea
is of evil, satanic, so it is the Adversary who is using various proxies to try to kill David. In fact
by New Testament times, Belial had actually become a formal name for Satan.

CJB
2 Corinthians 6:15 What harmony can there be between the Messiah and B'liya'al?
What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?



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David envisions the “ropes of Sheol”, the grave, the underworld of death, already binding him
and dragging him down into the bowels of the earth so certain did the prospect of death at
times seem. But when all seemed hopeless that no restoration or rescue was possible David
called out to Yehoveh, whom he terms “my Elohim” (my god as opposed to other gods). And
“out of His temple” (his hekal) the Lord heard (shema) David’s voice.

God’s hekal, His Temple, is referring to God’s heavenly abode. At this time no earthly temple
for Yehoveh had yet been built. But now that God sees David’s dilemma, and that the Evil One
is trying to destroy God’s anointed king, God acts. And when God acts all nature re-acts.
When God moves, the universe must respond; but the invisible spiritual sphere is also
affected. So a picture is painted of the earth shaking (like an earthquake) but also of heaven
quaking as God rises to an irresistible wrathful fury. These are all metaphors for utter
destruction being brought upon the enemies of God’s chosen. Smoke from God’s nostrils, fire
shooting out from His mouth, hot coals, these are all common Biblical idioms expressing rage
and anger. In fact it was and still is a common Middle Eastern idiom to speak of a person who
is angry as one whose nostrils heat up.

One more time let me say that these expressions are all figurative. God does not have nostrils
or ears, or a hand to hold a sword. He doesn’t have a mouth of hot coals that spews fire. In
fact to speak of God as angry is stretching matters a bit. God is spirit. He is without form. He is
without emotions as we think of them. He does not bounce from happiness to sadness to
anger and back again as the situation changes. God is NOT a man; He is not even a Super
Man. God is a whole other being that comes to us from another dimension beyond time and
space. But what else did the ancients have or what else have we moderns to relate to God
with, other than the terms of our own human existence within the context of our familiar
surroundings? Yet we must be very cautious in attaching human attributes to God and should
instead at times merely accept His awesome mystery and our inability to comprehend Him.
When we carry human familiarity with God one step too far it is foolish and irreverent, if not
idolatry.

Verse 10 begins a decidedly Messianic picture of God that Hebrews and Christians both
acknowledge. God comes down to earth with a thick impenetrable darkness between He and
mankind. We don’t have the time to read all of the portions of Exodus that describe this same
phenomenon, but I will read this:

(Exo 19:17-20 CJB)
17
Moshe brought the people out of the camp to meet God; they stood near the base of
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the mountain.

18
Mount Sinai was enveloped in smoke, because ADONAI descended onto it in fire- its
smoke went up like the smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently.

19
As the sound of the shofar grew louder and louder, Moshe spoke; and God answered
him with a voice.

20
ADONAI came down onto Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; then ADONAI
called Moshe to the top of the mountain; and Moshe went up.


It was up into this thick darkness (here figuratively described as smoke) that Moses ascended
to receive the 10 Commandments. The darkness is a type of veil between God and man for
man’s own protection because no man can see God’s face and live. Thus there was also
established a veil, the Parokhet, between man and the innermost chamber (the Holy of Holies)
in the Tabernacle and Temple.

Verse 11 gives us another figurative picture of God coming down to earth, and this is of Him on
the back of a Cherub, a Keruv, and He was seen as on the wings of the wind, the ruach,
which also means “spirit”. Because the Lord’s Temple in heaven is the incomparable original
and the model after which the Wilderness Tabernacle on earth was patterned, the Cherub
adorns the lid of the Ark of the Covenant that the Lord rides above (and uses the lid as His
footstool…..figuratively of course). The Ark was literally, however, where God met with Moses
when the Lord called him. And notice the reference to the spirit, the wind, the ruach, which is
the MEANS by which God manifests Himself on earth (or in a figurative sense, transports
Himself to earth).

Let me pause here for a moment to point out that what is being described in this passage is a
time when the Lord God becomes so enraged at the treatment of those who are His chosen
and elected people; when the Creator decides to move decisively and destructively against the
forces of wickedness who were on the verge of winning the eternal battle against the righteous,
that He became personally involved. This is not an event that happens every day. In fact the
next time this happens will be when Our Lord and Messiah Yeshua returns. David is describing
the Day of the Lord.

And notice that verse 12 says that God comes with darkness as a canopy around him, with
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thick clouds in the skies dense with water. I’m going to finish with this thought and I hope it will
give you pause to contemplate it, if not noticing the chills running up and down your spine.

I have taught you all that the 7 Biblical Feasts are prophetic of milestones in Messiah’s
redemptive work on behalf of Yehoveh. I have taught you that the first 4 of the Feasts have
been fulfilled exactly as foretold. The New Testament teaches us plainly and without
equivocation that Yeshua died on the Feast of Passover, went into the rocky tomb on the Feast
of Matza, and arose from the dead on the Feast of Bikkurim (Firstfruits). Further, after Yeshua
ascended the Holy Spirit came to indwell men on the 4
th
of the yearly feasts, the Feast of
Shavuot.

Thus I can only conclude that all remaining acts of redemption will occur on the 3 remaining
Biblical Feasts, the final one being Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths. The two main
features of the Feast of Sukkot are the Sukkah (the booth) and the water libation ceremony at
the Temple, which is essentially a plea to God for rain. Look at verse 12. Adding back in a few
Hebrew words we find that it says, “He (God) made choshek (spiritual darkness) His sukkah
(His booth) around Him, and thick clouds in the skies dense with mayim (water, rain). The Day
of the Lord will in the End Times (we are told) be as the day of darkness was in Egypt. That
horrifying darkness in Egypt that shook Israel’s captors to their core was not layil (the benign
and regular darkness of nighttime) but rather choshek, a spiritual darkness, obscurity,
denoting divinely caused calamity.

Thus we have an event in David’s Psalm of Thanksgiving when God comes to earth with a
Sukkah around Him and bringing rain water with Him. It is at this moment that He comes to
deliver His chosen and anointed from the throes of annihilation at the hand of evil, and also to
destroy His enemies. I cannot say it with 100% certainty, but for me this lends further credence
to the Day of the Lord, and God’s pouring out of His wrath on the earth, and thus the entry of
God’s people into Messiah’s Millennial Kingdom, as being directly related to the Feast of
Sukkot.

We do not know the year of our Our Lord’s return, but we can know the season. And the
season is the Fall Feast: the Feast of Tabernacles.

We’ll continue with this next time.

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