Today we begin 1st Samuel Chapter 13.
For the Complete Jewish Bible, click HERE.
For the King James Version, click HERE.
The story of King Saul is the story of the anti-King.
That’s why it’s important to observe Saul’s behavior because how he operates will be patterned after the coming Anti-Christ who is also another anti-King.
So what attributes does an anti-King possess?
First, he does what is right in his own mind.
He creates his own doctrines and says they’re from God.
He then obeys these false doctrines instead of what is written in God’s Torah.
Sounds a lot like Christianity, doesn’t it?
So that’s a quick way to determine if a king is patterned after the anti-Christ.
They pay lip service to the Torah, but at the end of the day trust in their own heart over God’s commands.
Contrast this to what Yeshua said about Torah obedience:
“Do not think that I have
come to abolish the Law
or the Prophets; I have
not come to abolish them
but to fulfill them. For truly
I tell you, until heaven and
earth disappear, not the
smallest letter, not the least
stroke of a pen, will by any
means disappear from the
Law until everything is
accomplished. Therefore
anyone who sets aside one
of the least of these commands
and teaches others accordingly
will be called least in the
kingdom of heaven, but
whoever practices and
teaches these commands
will be called great in
the kingdom of heaven.”
-Matthew 5:17-19
Next, here’s another interesting verse from 2nd Thessalonians that speaks on another chief attribute of the anti-Christ:
“He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”-2 Thessalonians 2:4
So the false messiah or anti-Christ will also be one whose followers demand he be worshipped as God the Father Almighty.
Hmm…that sounds curiously familiar to another religion I just mentioned, doesn’t it?
So the false messiah or anti-Christ will be both a law-breaker and an idolater who makes himself equal to God.
Onward.
Now, recall I said the whole purpose of the book of Judges was to demonstrate that mankind by nature needs to be ruled by a king.
There was never any debate whether or not Israel should have a king.
The issue was WHAT KIND of King Israel should have.
The problem with Saul is that he was born from the fleshly desires of the people who wanted to install Saul as king for all the wrong reasons.
Since they wanted Saul for all the wrong reasons and all the wrong hopes, they ended up with a ruler who possessed all the wrong attributes.
There’s a huge takeaway there, don’t you think?
If you want something for all the wrong reasons, the final product of what you get will possess all the wrong attributes.
We see this happen in all areas of our life.
You pick a girl to be your wife only because she’s physically attractive, and then find out she’s a self-absorbed and selfish narcissist who you end up divorcing a few years later.
You pick a job solely because of its high-income potential, and you end up quitting because you hate it so much.
You spend too much money on expensive luxury items to boost your social status and end up with huge debts you can’t pay off.
Or you go into ministry, not out of any sincere desire to serve God, but simply because you’re in love with the narcissistic idea of leading and teaching others, and having everyone look up to you as some kind of elevated spiritual leader.
The end result of such a ministry is that it usually breaks down after a few years because most of its members feel used and abused.
I think you get the idea here.
If your desires are ungodly, the results born will also be ungodly.
On the other hand, if your desires are godly, the products of those desires will also be fruitful.
So make sure you prayerfully examine your motives before God before embarking on some project, or it will be doomed to failure before you even get started just as Saul’s rulership was doomed before it even got off the ground.
Ya feel me?
Sounds nothing like Christianity.