Today, we begin 2nd Samuel Chapter 8.
For the Complete Jewish Bible, click HERE.
For the King James version, click HERE.
“Some time afterwards,
David attacked the P’lishtim and subdued them;
David took Meteg-Amah out of the hands of the P’lishtim.”
-2 Samuel 8:1
So the last chapter was all about God’s promise to build an eternal Kingdom through David’s lineage.
And now, here in Chapter 8, we see this becoming a reality.
The battles David fought to expand Israel’s borders are listed.
However, this chapter is NOT in perfect time sequence with the rest of 2nd Samuel
That’s fine.
The goal here isn’t a step-by-step timeline but more to provide a highlight reel of David’s military wins.
The first verse starts with “sometime afterward.”
This likely means not long after chapter 6, when the Ark of the Covenant arrived in the City of David.
We shouldn’t be surprised that the first war David fought was with the Philistines.
For years, they tried to control Canaan to keep their trade routes safe.
Those roads led to their big seaports on the Mediterranean.
So they weren’t about to give them up without a fight.
So, here’s your takeaway for today.
The Kingdom of Heaven has to be taken by brute FORCE.
This is God’s Will.
I know this is an unseemly notion for the Christian crowd who are so attached to the idea that God is only love, and the image of their Jesus being some meek and mild shepherd who only kissed babies and wept over the sick before healing them.
Well, this same mild and meek Jesus will one day lead God’s armies and spill so much blood from the attacking gentile nations that it will reach the height of a horse’s bridle.
Ya feel me?
Take a look again at the opening verse of 2nd Samuel Chapter 8:
It clearly says…
“David attacked the Philistines and subdued them.”
This is how the Kingdom of God has to be taken…
By brute raw military force…
This was the case when the Israelites first entered the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership.
It was the case for David, as we’re reading about right now.
It’s a present-day reality as Israel wages war against Hamas and her other enemies in the Middle East.
And it will be the case at the final battle of Armageddon, the war to end all wars, when Messiah returns to rescue Israel from all her gentile enemies.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence,
and violent people have been raiding it.”
-Matthew 11:12
P.S. I can’t help but to remind you that you are aware that the word “Palestinian” is simply the Greek word for “Philistine,” aren’t you? I tell ya, folks. Nothing has changed.
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