This one gets lengthy. 😬

I hope you are either fortified with coffee or comfy in bed (and you don’t fall asleep til after you finish reading).

2nd Samuel 23 begins with David’s “last words.” And then in chapter 24 we get a whole additional story with David and we go into 1st Kings where David is old, but still very much alive.

😐 What?! Well that’s not confusing at all.

This reminds us that most of the Bible was not written as we might imagine – like a reporter 📝 was standing on the battle field or in the palace writing down every event as it happened and it is instantly put in a scroll and regarded as scripture.

Someone, (a court scribe?), probably did write David’s “last words” as they were spoken on his deathbed. But this document was likely added to the rest of the recorded history of David, which was later compiled by an editor – perhaps the prophet Nathan or Gad. This short note of David’s last words was added at the end of the book along with the other appendices:

• David’s Psalm of Deliverance
• David’s Last Words
• David’s Mighty Men
• David’s Census

A person’s last words are important. David gives one final Messianic prophecy. And it is in a poetic structure. You know someone is a true songwriter and inspired poet when their final words are in fact a poem. Here is the structure:

• David’s identity (4)
  • Son of Jesse
  • Raised Up
  • Anointed
  • Psalmist of Israel
• The Righteous Ruler
  • This is about Christ (and all who belong to Him, who reign on His behalf), He is the light of the world who is like the breaking dawn and sunlight that gives life
• God’s Promise to David’s Family (4)
  • Chosen
  • Everlasting Covenant
  • Details prepared & arranged
  • Protected & Guaranteed
• The Lawless One
  • I think this may be a nod to the Antichrist/Satan (and all who belong to him, who reign on his behalf), They are like thorns that do nothing but ruin the land and bring hurt.

I’d like to drill down a bit into verses 6-7 about the thorny evil ones.

Verse 7 in the Septuagint reads: “And a man will not labor among them.” Imagine trying to plant a garden in the midst of a thick briar patch. Every time you even swing a hoe you’re going to be scratched to pieces. This verse makes me think of the parable of the soils – where some seed fell among thorns and the thorns choked out the plant and it was unfruitful. Jesus said that the thorns were the “riches and pleasures of this life, (Lk. 8:14).”

“Thorns and thistles” are a result of the fall of man, (Gen. 3:18). So every time we see thorns in the Bible, we should be connecting a dot beck to Genesis 3 and sin.

There’s a reason Jesus wore a crown of thorns, and not a crown of daisies or reeds. He was crowned with the result of sin.

The writer of Hebrews seems to almost be paraphrasing the final words of David. Compare 2 Samuel 23:4, 6-7 with this:

“For ground that drinks the rain that comes often upon it, and brings forth vegetation usable to those people for whose sake it is also cultivated, shares a blessing from God. But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to a curse, whose end is for burning.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭6‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭LEB‬‬

In the context, the writer is admonishing the recipients to be steadfast in growing in faith and to guard against slacking off and drifting away. If you do not maintain land, it will very quickly turn into a weed patch. It needs no cultivation in order to produce thorns and thistles. Under the curse of sin, that is the default setting. On the contrary, it takes deliberate cultivation to win the constant war with crabgrass, briars, and sin. It is God Who makes righteousness grow but we are called to “break up our fallow ground and seek the LORD, (Hos. 10:12).”

I remember this rather goofy song from Sunday school:

Root them out

Get them gone

All the little bunnies in the fields of corn

Jealousy, Envy, Malice, and Pride

All in your heart shall not abide

I had no idea what “malice” was but I figured it was bad bunny.

😏🐰

David’s final words concern the destruction of the wicked. And while we may look on the final judgement with trepidation and sorrow for lost souls, David understood that the destruction of the wickedness was essential for righteousness and peace to fully reign. And He wanted that. He wanted it with his every heartbeat and his dying breath.

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We have read previously about David’s Mighty Men. This time I want to look at:

• Benaiah, son of Jehoiada
• Eliam, son of Ahithophel

Ok. Gonna be honest. I have a bit of a Bible-character crush on Benaiah. He’s the captain of the king’s bodyguard. He killed two “Ariel’s” of Moab. The word ariel is a combination of 2 words: lion and god. In many translations it is worded as “lion-like.” That’s probably about as close as any translation could get. This word may be describing the nature of the 2 fighters he encountered – fearless, strong, quick, ferocious.

But, is it possible the text is suggesting that these are a different kind of Nephilim Giant than we have encountered before?

Follow this closely…

😏 I’m following. You need one of those bumper stickers that say, “If you can read this you’re too close.” 😆

😑 Whatever. Just pay attention.

The Nephilim of Genesis 6 were angel-human hybrids. But Genesis 6 tells us that all flesh was corrupted and filled with violence and that even the animals were going to have to be destroyed. What was wrong with the animals? Could it be that fallen angels also created hybrid offspring with animals?

If you are familiar with ancient legends, you know that part-human, part-animal hybrids were common. And they were divine beings.

In the Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis created a world populated by creatures of ancient legends…

Now…compare the above to these guys:

God firmly outlaws bestiality. Why? Besides the fact that it is degrading and unnatural, could it be that ancient humans were attempting (and succeeding, with demonic help) at creating chimeric, hybrid life-forms? Might the fallen realm be trying to make their own cherubim?

I say ALL…. of this because…. Maybe just maybe Benaiah encountered some kind of lion-god Nephilim. And he killed them. That would certainly be something to write in the history books. Then he killed an actual lion in a pit on a snowy day.

But the Egyptian warrior… that’s SO cool. Josephus explains that the Egyptian threw his spear, which Benaiah caught then used to kill the Egyptian. That’s just awesome. 🤩 I don’t care who you are.

Now. The next guy…

Eliam, son of Ahithophel… Eliam’s father is the Ahithophel that sided with Absalom. The Ahithophel who advised Absalom to rape all ten of David’s concubines. And when his advice to attack David wasn’t followed, he went home and hanged himself.

That’s Eliam’s father. Former counselor to David, turned traitor. Eliam was one of the Mighty Men. They all left Jerusalem with David when Absalom (with Ahithophel) usurped the throne. And Ahithophel was urging the army to go after David and his men – and kill them.

Eliam was a loyal man and an elite soldier. I think he is yet another proof that the choices of your parents do not define you. Many people have had parents that were somewhere on a scale from deeply flawed to disastrous. Eliam maintained his integrity and didn’t cave to pressure, even when it put him on the side opposing his own father.

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Ok… This post is already quite long and I haven’t even started on the Psalms yet…

So we’re gonna keep this ASAP (as short as possible)

PSALM 57

My Bible’s heading says that this was written on or about the occasion of David running from Saul to the Cave of Adullum so we should’ve read it way back then. But alas. Here we are.

Perhaps verse 4 about fighting the “lions” is meant to remind us of Benaiah fighting the lion-like men?

Today, the verse that stands out to me most:

“Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn!”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭57‬:‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

It just so happens that I “awakened the dawn” this morning. (That is, the morning I wrote it, not the morning you’re reading it.) I volunteered to direct vendors for my town’s fall festival and was standing in an intersection with a clipboard, a walkie-talkie, a cup up coffee, and a big ol’ caffeine-induced smile at 5:30 this morning.

Did you know that if you drink a BIG cup of strong coffee before dawn, it’ll be your favorite time of day too?

☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️😁🙃😆

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PSALM 95

Verses 7-11 are quoted in Hebrews 3:7-11 and commented upon.

🤔 Hmmm… 7-11… in BOTH books? What are the odds?

Here is a link to hear (and watch) Psalm 95 performed by The Sons of Korah – the Australian band, not the biblical guys.

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PSALM 97

I’d like to look at just 2 lines in this psalm.

And here’s a link to a blast from the past. The Lord Reigns from the Brownsville Revival in the 90s. This song uses verses 1, 3, 5, 6, and 9 of Psalm 97. And the organ is on point!

Anyhoo… back to the 2 lines:

Verse 7: “worship Him, all you gods!”

Verse 9: “You are exalted far above all gods.”

If the little-g gods are not real, why does the Word of God command them to worship Yahweh?

If the little-g gods are not real, how is it exaltation for Yahweh to be above figments of imagination?

I put it to you that the little-g gods are very much REAL. They exist.

Elohim is used in the biblical text as a generic term for residents of the unseen realm. There are many residents in that realm, both faithful to Yahweh and rebels.

Idols are nothing but man made objects, but the spirits that those objects are intended to interface with or (at minimum) represent, are very real.

But they are nothing to be anxious about because the LORD is exalted WAY above them. And we are in Christ:

“…that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭20‬-‭23‬, 2‬:‭4‬-‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

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PSALM 98

There is a LOT of singing and making joyful noises in this psalm. But why? What exactly is everyone singing about and the trumpeters trumpeting about and even the ocean waves and hills celebrating? It kinda surprises me every time because it’s like a plot-twist right at the end…

“…for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭98‬:‭9‬ ‭ESV‬‬

We don’t generally think of “Judgment Day” as a happy occasion that calls for singing and rejoicing. Trumpeting – sure. Trumpets heralding destruction. Think of any movie with “Judgement Day” in the title. That’s pretty much what we think. Apocalyptic. Fire and Brimstone.

But this psalm calls all creation to sing and rejoice on the occasion. Why? Because:

“Sing to Yahweh a new song, for he has done wonders. His right hand and his holy arm have secured his victory. Yahweh has made known his salvation; to the eyes of the nations he has revealed his righteousness. He has remembered his loyal love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭98‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭LEB‬‬

There is a lot of revealing going on. A lot of making known. A lot of showing salvation. A lot of REVELATION. (See what I did there?)

If you are personally afraid of judgment day, it’s probably an indicator that you have some unresolved business with the Savior that you need to take care of.

(At the risk of being tedious), The Revelation is all about revealing.

🤔 Revealing what?

You mean, “Revealing Whom?” It’s all about the revealing and putting on international display the Jesus of God.

🤔 The Jesus of God? Why on earth did you say it like that?

Because the name of Jesus means “Salvation.” So when Psalm 98 says, “Yahweh has made known His salvation,” we would be completely accurate to write it as, “Yahweh has made known His Jesus.” When it says, “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God,” we could very accurately say it as “All the ends of the earth have seen the Jesus of our God.”

And all the ends of the earth WILL see Him.

“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even every one who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Yes, amen.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬ ‭LEB‬‬

🤨 And I can only say “Yes and Amen” that this blog post is finally over. I’m not sure how coherent you were. Thank heavens I don’t have to deal with you getting up at 4am and hyped on strong coffee every day.

😏 Not nearly as thankful as I am.