Reviews by Hubie Goode: The Life and Times of King David part 5

The Life and 

Times of King

David

part 5

When king David finally learned about his son’s insurrection, it was almost too late. His court had become divided over his leadership and the people had formed a social movement in favor of Absalom. Now aged and an unlikely competitor for the younger man, David was forced to flee his capital, across the Jordan to Mahanaim. Several hundred of his loyal followers went with him as he made his way east. These consisted of his servants, his runners, his soldiers and his household. However, his priests Abiathar and Zadok remained behind to report on Absalom’s actions.

Absalom's Pillar, which he built to himself, still exists.

Once outside the capital, David could then see the mood of the people. An old man assaulted him with rocks and curses. But to many of the people it looked as if David had given up the throne to Absalom. Many of them wept as he passed by, but in Jerusalem, Absalom took the capital without a struggle.

The chief adviser to Absalom recommended an immediate attack on Mahanaim, before David could gather his armies. He had about 12,000 men under his command, more than enough to claim victory if he did indeed act swiftly. But a second adviser told Absalom to mobilize all of Israel against his father. This man, Hushai, had pledged allegiance to Absalom but in reality he was a double agent for David. His suggestion was a play for time as David gathered his forces.

Absalom

“You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and your father is expert in war.” Hushai told Absalom. There was enough truth in that statement to deter the young king long enough, and when he did finally attack, David was ready for him.

The battle was a rout, as the conscripted rookies of Absalom went up against the battle tested veterans of David’s troops. Thousands died in the battle and even though David had requested Absalom be spared, Joab took Absalom out as he hung from a tree by his own hair.

When notified, David went into mourning over his son. He had a great love for his children no matter what they had done to him, and he sequestered himself away in his bedroom. Joab knew that David risked losing his supporter by isolating himself and he confronted the King. “You shame those who love you today,” he told the king. “You make it clear that commanders and servants mean nothing to you as you love those who hate you and hate those who love you. If you don’t go out and speak to your men, then by morning there will be no one left!”

Joab was probably right and when David felt shame by his general’s accusation, he did indeed go out to the people. But before he could return to his capital a new cry of insurrection erupted.  A man named Sheba, a Benjaminite, made one last effort to split the kingdom that was now under one rule. Joab, loyal to a fault, followed Sheba  to the town of Abel, and the people of the town , in an effort to save their own hides, cut off Sheba’s head an threw it over the wall to Joab. Both insurrections and Sheba were now dead.

Adonija, David’s eldest surviving son, was now heir apparent. But at this time there was no precedent for succession to the throne. He was deeply concerned about the influence of Bathsheba, mother to his half brother Solomon. She had the powerful palace clique behind her and David was old and on his last legs. Adonijah had both Joab and the high priest Abiathar on his team, and he decided the time was ripe to strike. He took it upon himself to declare his King ship of Israel, and performed all the required activities for doing so. His supporters gathered for a festive banquet to celebrate.

When Bathsheba heard of this from the prophet Nathan, she went directly to the bedridden King. She told him of his son’s treacherous actions and reminded him of his promise to make Solomon king.

David immediately ordered the appointment of Solomon as King of Israel and gathered all of Solomon’s supporters for his own inauguration. When Adonijah’s followers heard the news, they quickly abandoned him. Adonijah sought sanctuary in the temple and was spared by Solomon. 

Bathsheba presents Solomon to his father the King

By this time, David, former shepherd, had reigned in Jerusalem 33 years. The about the year 960 B.C., he died in a good old age, full of years, riches and honor. He had broadened the borders of Israel, and made her richer with the spoils of  war. He left a golden age for his son Solomon who would succeed him in a time of unprecedented peace. To the world he left the city of Jerusalem, and of course, his beloved psalms.

Reviews by Hubie Goode: The Life and Times of King David part 4



The procession of a King's Death

The Life and Times of

King David

part 4

Saul had created the first standing army in Israel’s history. David then took it and expanded it. The cream of the armed forces were known as the “thirty”. These were the men who had fought by David’s side in his outlaw days. They formed his honorary army council and served as sort of the “congress” of the army. Under Joab they commanded the two separate branches of David’s regular military army. One branch was recruited from the Sea people, Cretans and Aegeans, among others. The second branch was formed entirely from the assimilated Philistines.

Bodyguards for the King and the palace were formed from the men of Gath, or Gittites. These were men who also ran with David during the exile.

The army had some 2,000 well trained regulars,  and there were also territorial contingents who could be called upon as were needed. These men came from the Israelite tribes and came in groups of 10, 50, 100 and 1,000 each and were lead by their own commanders.

The tools of defense were swords, javelins and spears. Armor was a helmet, a breast plate, leg guards and a leather covered wooden shield. Territorial accompaniments had to buy their own equipment. One of which, the two edged sword, was a tool of the wealthy. The rest used Ox goads, rough lances, wooden bows and arrows. Also included: bludgeons, axes and the sling.

With such a force at hand, and the elimination of the Philistine threat, David moved east toward the Jordan river. He launched wars of expansion  which took advantage of the crumbling Babylonian empire. The Hittites were no longer a power in the Near East, and the Hurrians had been destroyed by the Hittites and Assyrians. The Assyrians themselves at this time were not in a position for further military aggression. Internal strife in the Egyptian administration had weakened them  to the point that David would have to be ignored no matter whose toes he stepped on. David’s intel had notified him of all of these advantages  for a free hand in the area and he took swift action to capitalize on the situation.

David’s forces rolled in he area. He defeated one after another, the peoples who were living there: the Ammonites, the Edomites, the Moabites, and then he took out the last of the Amelikites. The latter, for those who do not know, are considered the remaining vestige of the Nephilhelm, those mixed of human and demon descent.

He stretched his kingdom south from Edom, rich in copper mines, to the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea. This gave Israel a potential port. Eventually, Solomon would trade from there with Arabia and Africa. When David conquered the Arameans of eastern Syria, he gained control of all trade routes to the Euphrates river.

David took part in may of those campaigns, but usually it was the brilliant commander Joab who lead the troops while David stayed at the capital. On one such an occasion, when he should have been out leading the troops in battle, David allowed his idleness to get the best of him and create gateway for other problems. Above the city, on his palace roof, he looked down and saw Bathsheba bathing.

Bathsheba enticingly bathed in the open, but for most women
of her day, this was done indoors. Unscented oil was used like cold
cream to remove dirt, then scented oil would follow.

She was the wife of a Hittite soldier named Uriah. At the time he was with Joab battling the Ammonites. David, feeling that he was King after all, sent for Bathsheba and they tripped the light fantastic. She did, however, become pregnant by the king.

David immediately called Uriah home to his wife, no doubt believing that the lines between his child and Uriah’s child needed to be blurred as soon as possible for the up and coming date.  Uriah, however, refused to return home. Instead he slept with his buddies at the door of the King’s house. A soldier in battle, kept himself sacramentally clean, and this meant no slap and tickle during war time. David then had to resort to legal murder in order to cover up the impending results of his dalliance. This meant legal murder.  David had Joab send Uriah up front in the upcoming battle and then pull back behind him in order that he may be killed in action.

A clay figurine of the period

Uriah was of course killed, and Bathsheba went into mourning. When the time was over, David married her, and soon after she gave birth to a son. But the Lord was displeased with David’s soap opera movements, and he sent Nathan the prophet, to David.

The story was now well known throughout the country and Nathan addressed the King and said, “ Thus says the God of Israel, I anointed you King over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul; and I gave you your master’s house... and also that of Israel and Judah... and if this were too little I would add to you much more. Why have you done evil in the Lord’s sight?”

David accepted his guilt and confessed to his sin against God. He probably expected Nathan to pronounce a death sentence, but Nathan assured him that he was not to die. However, the child to be born would indeed die, and Nathan left him with that.

The child lay ill for six days and David did all he could to entreat the Lord to change his mind about the fate of the boy. But on the seventh day, the child did die. David, revealing the thoughts of those at the time as to what happens when we die, stated that it was he who would go to the child but the child would never return to him.  Thus David had to live with the results of caving in to his own lust, as a fine officer and his own son, met their ends at his own hands. Bathsehba, however, would be the one to bear his future son, the future King Solomon.

Israel had become rich and secure under David, but as time passed he had become less and less of a favored celebrity. Fat with prosperity, and military superiority, the Israelites resented the taxes they had to pay, and the conscription of troops.  David’s third born son, Absalom, took full advantage of the disgruntled populace.

David’s daughter, Tamar, had been raped by Amnon, David’s oldest son, and Absalom had him killed for it two years later. This was, however, a political move more than an act of vengeance, as Absalom had now been placed in the position  of heir apparent. Tamar, never recovered.

Absalom then ran from what he knew would be David’s anger toward him. With the help of Joab, he managed a reconciliation with David a few years later. Unsatisfied, he then began to plot a rebellion among the people, hoping to gain David’s kingdom.

Absalom started politicking in the public squares and speaking out against his father’s negligence as a judge and telling the people what they wanted to hear from their leadership. He showed off before them with pomp and circumstance  and turned many toward him as they became sold on his campaign.

For four years he campaigned against David while showing himself to be both proud and humble to the populace. Then suddenly he left for Hebron, with 200 of his followers. He told his people, “As soon as you hear the trumpet say: Absalom is King at Hebron!”

The time for open rebellion had come.

.. and ever since David’s dalliance with Bathsheba, strife had never left his home.

more on this next time.    

                      

Reviews by Hubie Goode: The Life and Times of King David part 3

The City of David

The Life and Times of King David

part 3

David, being a man of his word and convictions, would not strike Saul. He loathed the thought of civil war for Israel as well. Thus he left the country and headed for Philistine territory. He returned to Gath with 600 men in his tow. In an attempt to release himself from the pursuit of Saul he offered his services and those of his men to the king.

King Achish no doubt had some problems with the concept, but nevertheless established them in the town of Ziklag. David and his men were then expected to conduct raids on the southern border of Judah.

However, David and his men instead went after the semi nomadic enemies of Judah, and strengthened her borders. The spoils of victory were given to the people of Negeb. Covertly, David was enhancing his position with those he would one day rule.

King Achish knew nothing of David’s duplicity, and was instead concentrating on the plans of the five Philistine overlords of the north. They had come together for an all out assault on Israel. Their first movement was to take the plain of Jezreel. David was asked to join them, but the commanders had a basic lack of trust in David and his men, and he was kept out of it. David was en rout from Jezreel to Negeb when Saul confronted the Philistines at Mount Gilboa.

When David returned to Ziklag, he found that the Amalekites had raided the town. They had looted and pillaged, but had also taken everyone hostage. The Lord told David to head after them, for he would surely catch them and make rescue.

David headed south to the brook of Besor, where 200 of his men collapsed, too exhausted to continue. David and his 400 found the Amalekites spread out over the land. They were having a great feast in celebration of all the spoil they had taken. David attacked at dawn, and recovered all hostages and livestock. He then divided the spoil  among those who had fought and those who had stayed behind.

Saul and his men, poised for battle at Mount Gilboa, were going into battle with an old king. A king who was no longer confident in the Lord’s involvement in his life. Before he went into battle he had consulted with the prophets of God about the coming battle, but the “phone rang off the hook.”

He then went to a witch, or medium for answers. He wanted to conjure up the spirit of Samuel. To everyone’s surprise, even the medium’s, Samuel showed up and predicted Saul’s death and the defeat of Israel.

Distraught and convinced he was headed for his last stand, he fought at Mount Gilboa. Jonathan and his two brothers, Abinadab and Malchishua, were all killed. Saul was seriously wounded by Philistine archers, and apparently when you lose to the Philistines you are subject to anal rape, so Saul fell on his own sword and perished also.

Until David came along, the state of Israelite music
was rather primitive. It typically consisted of instruments
like the "sistrum". This was little more than an elaborate rattle.
David imported skilled Phonecian musicians and added
to his nation's culture.

David received news of the defeat and the deaths of those he had come to know as family. Though he went into mourning he also realized that if he were to take Saul’s place as king, he would have to move quickly. He consulted of God as to where to go now, and was told to go to Hebron.

To Hebron they all went, and there David was anointed King over the house of Judah. The date was about 1000 years before Christ. David now ruled Judah, but Israel was now in division. A nation once unified under Saul, was now led by Ishbosheth, Saul’s youngest son. He ruled the ten tribes who lived in the central and northern areas of the kingdom: Benjamin, Dan, Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali, Gad and the remnant of Rueben which had escaped the Moabite and Ammonite pressure. David ruled over the tribes of Judah and Simeon.  Abner, Saul’s chief general, lead bloody skirmishes against Joab and the armies of David for two years with little results.

Abner, however, began to move without the let of his king and took one of Saul’s concubines for his own. The king saw this as treason and a split developed between the two men. Abner then met with David secretly, no doubt feeling that Israel would have a better future under David’s rule, and he discussed the plans for turning over the northern kingdom.

As a show of good faith, Abner returned Michal to David from the town of Gibea. She had been married off to another when David had fled the country. There in David’s harem, she provided a link between Saul’s family and the Kingdom of Judah. This strengthened David’s position as future king of Israel.

Joab however, knowing nothing of the talks between Abner and David, sought revenge for a brother Abner had killed in battle. Abner, not realizing that Joab knew nothing of the secret talks, walked right up to Joab and was quickly disemboweled.

This was bad news for David and his political future, so David called a national day of mourning  in respect for the fallen Abner, this in order to keep his people from retaliation. However, without Abner, his king began to lose courage and the people followed suit.

Two of Ishbosheth’s captains, seeking favor of David, for the future, killed the king in his sleep.  Instead of promoting them, David had them executed for killing Saul’s son, not only their king.  Only Jonathan’s five year old crippled son remained of the house of Saul. Now no one stood between David and the throne of Israel. All of the elders went to Hebron and anointed David their king. With this act, Samuel’s prophecy was fulfilled.

The Philistines, hearing these events, became alarmed. As long as Israel fought amongst itself, they knew that all of Canaan would eventually be theirs to take. A united Israel, however, with warrior King David at its command, was big, big trouble.

They therefore attacked before David would be able to get any help from the northern tribes. They amassed in the valley of Rephaim, hoping to drive a wedge between Israel and Judah before any solidarity could take place. David proved more than a match for them however, and defeated them twice. In fact, David kept rolling until the armies of the Philistines were destroyed.  The Philistines were never heard from again.

Jerusalem, the last city in central Israel was still controlled by the Canaanites. It was built on a high ridge bordered on the east, west and south by steep valleys. It had high walls and lofty springs. David considered this to be the best place for a capitol. It was also on the border between the two nations of Israel and Judah and would also be a great place for political rule.

David then set out to capture the city, only to be mocked by its inhabitants. The Jebusites told him, “The blind and the lame will defend this city against the likes of you.”  David told his men that the first one to smite them would be chief and commander.

Joab led his men through a water tunnel that ran under the city, no doubt a lesson learned from the fall of Babylon. They emerged inside the city and threw the Jebusites into confusion. He then threw open the city gates for the rest of his forces and soon the victory was done.

David would live there. He would call it the City of David. It belonged neither to Israel or to Judah. It was the sole property of David himself. Pretty good for a little shepherd boy from Bethlehem!

David centralized the power of the state in the king, with Jerusalem as the seat of government. Tribal allegiance was forgotten once inside the walls of Jerusalem, one now belonged to the king, not just a confederacy.

David also had the ark of the covenant brought there with the prophet Nathan. David danced before God as the ark was brought into the city. Jerusalem was now not only the City of David, but with the seat of God there, it was also the City of the Lord. Michal, his wife, thinking David silly for his exuberance, rendered herself barren with derisive comments. R.E.S.P.E.C.T.!

Now the whole of political, civil, religious and all other administrations were concentrated in one place with David as its ruler. David then surrounded himself with officers and clerics and created an administration of some of the most famous names in the Old Testament: Joab, Jehoshaphat, Seraiah, Benaiah, Zadok and Abiathar, to name a few.

It was then that he commissioned the collection of the book of Psalms. These hymns were sung by priests and celebrants at the Tent of the Covenant. We still have these books and records of these events to this day, including the existence of Israel, and her people who are historically connected to all of this. The flag of Israel is decorated with the Star of David. Remind your atheist and agnostic friends and co-workers, that it is one thing to disregard an invisible creator, but quite another to ignore Israel and the Jews.

more on all of this next time.

Reviews by Hubie Goode: The Life and Times of King David part 2

"The Lord gave you into my hand in the cave...but I spared you." 1 Samuel 24.10
In an En-gedi cave like this, David spared Saul's life, even though Saul was trying
to kill him. He and his men also hid out in these caves, whose cool recesses
offered shelter not only from men but from the blazing heat of the desert

The Life and Times of King David

part 2

With his great victory, David was now a sports hero so to speak. Now a full fledged leader in the army of the king, his victories mounted and grew.  He had sudden fame and glory and all the women came out of the city singing his praises.

“Saul has slain his thousands, David his tens of thousands!”

Saul had promoted David due to his prowess in battle, and the obvious advantage of having someone with God’s hand on him didn’t hurt either. The public adoration for David didn’t help him in the eyes of the king. Naturally, he began to distrust David’s inner motives. Suspicion of a threat to his throne grew within Saul.

Still suffering from the fits of madness, he twice throws his javelin at David, attempting to impale him. David was younger and more agile and thus able to avoid the javelin. Saul, however, couldn’t admit this advantage over himself and saw it as obvious help from God in David’s ability to avoid certain death. This only added to his suspicions of a threat to the throne. No matter how many times he sent him out to meet the Philistines in battle, they failed to kill the boy. David’s popularity, and obvious favor of God over Saul, began to steam roll in the constituency.

Saul then offered his eldest daughter to David in marriage, if he won even more victories. David never married her however, since Saul abruptly gives her to another. But he tries again with his younger daughter Michal, who had a bad jones for the young hero. The price of marriage? 100 Philistine foreskins. A task I cannot imagine: circumcising 100 dead men and collecting their penis skin. Oh my!

Saul must have thought this impossible if not repulsive and surely David would get himself killed trying such a stunt. Please make sure they are all dead first, or you’ll have quite the fight on your hands! But David brought back 200 foreskins instead. Michal was his, and seemingly David was invincible.

Saul then called on Jonathan to kill David. But Jonathan pleaded David’s case siting his service and record, and Saul relented. They even reconciled for a time, but it was only a temporary respite.

Even Michal got into the act of going against he father for the sake of David. Upon hearing of Saul’s plan to have soldiers bring him to the palace to be slain, she warned him to save his life. She tried to fool the soldiers when they arrived  with the phoney “pillow under the covers routine” and claims that David was ill and couldn’t be moved, but the soldiers didn’t fall for it and discovered the ruse.

"And the servants of David went out and met the servants
of the son of Saul at the pool of Gibeon.... and the battle
was very fierce that day" 2 Samuel 2.13, 17
The probable scene of this encounter a stair well that leads
down to the water table. This was discovered in 1956 by archeaologists.
It was a circular pit , 37 feet across, cut from solid rock to a depth of 82 feet.
Almost 3,000 tons of limestone had to be removed. Village women would have
to descend the stair and then climb back up with water pots on their heads.
The 79 step climb must have made for some well toned ladies.

David had fled in the night, and ended up in Ramah, a few miles away, in the safety of Samuel the prophet. Saul pursued him there, but God intervened and had the soldiers and Saul himself become overwhelmed with a type of religious dancing in praise of God.

David then secretly met with Jonathan to discuss the problem and asked him just what it was he had done to deserve the wrath of Saul. Jonathan assured David that Saul would have no success at killing him and the two men renewed their friendship.

The feast of the new moon was the next night, and as tradition would have it, David was obligated to be at table with Saul. When he wasn’t there Saul was furious, and Jonathan had to lie to Saul with the excuse that David had been given leave to visit his brothers in Bethlehem.

In the morning, after an evening of near death from his own father’s javelin tossing, Jonathan met with David secretly in the field, and the two  said farewell for the time being. They both knew that David would now be a wandering outlaw in the wilderness until Saul’s death.

David then moved on to Nob, where he received the sword of Goliath which had been left in the care of Ahimelech the priest. No doubt thinking that he would not be found in the Philistine town of Gath, he fled there, only to be seized by the King’s soldiers. When brought to King Achish, David faked madness like a man in a rubber room.

Achish of course, tossed David out, as David had expected. In his day, the insane were thought to be touched by the divine, and therefore inviolable. The Philistines released him and he fled to a cave in Adullam, near the border between the two territories of Judah and the Philistines.

In this area all those who were the outcast, the indebted, the receivers of Saul’s ire, and those considered a rebel, gathered around David. They survived off of the kindness of local shepherds and farmers and kept one step ahead of Saul’s pursuit. In time, the followers of David grew, and became a small army of rebels unto themselves.

David’s army soon encountered the philistines in battle and overran a force at Keliah. With 400 men under his command, he soon demanded tribute from the settlements in the hills. Nabal from  Carmel, a rich man who owed David tribute, refused to pay and David planned to march against the town. Abigail, Nabal’s wife moved quickly however, and brought David tribute on the way from town. Nabal was so incensed that he had a cardiac arrest and died.

Due to the days in which he lived, a King’s power was often measured by how many wives he had in his harem. (That would make someone I know very, very weak!) And David married Abigail in recognition for saving him from something called “blood guilt”. He was loath to avenge himself by his own hand.

Saul, however, had continued his pursuit of David and had killed Ahimelech and his family for the kindness he had shone to David. The priest's son had escaped Saul and warned David to run from the enclosed town of Keilah, and David once again avoided Saul.

David and his men led the life of guerilla fighters in Judah. They offered protection to those who fed them and wrentched provisions from the uncooperative rich. Like Robin Hood, they shared with the poor, all the while harassing king Saul's men. In this rendering, the meal would be lentils and figs with goat's milk. Weapons and water flasks were enough of a burden to carry without the cares of food maintainence. Living on the run required a light travel bag.

Saul followed David and his men to the edge of the Dead Sea. He stopped to “drain the dragon” in a cave that held David and his men in the back, where they were hiding. David got close enough to have killed Saul, but refused to think of such a thing as he still held the King in his position.  Instead, he cut off part of Saul’s garment and then when Saul was a good distance away, he called to him, waving the garment piece, and displaying his innocence of any claim to the throne.

Saul was tearfully repentant upon the realization of what he had done, but still could not rid himself of his hatred for David. Such is the result of physical addiction to internal emotions. Later on David would again sneak into camp where Saul was sleeping, and took his spear. Easily the young King could have killed his tormentor, but instead he continued to hold him in honor.

Once again, David had spared the life of his aggressor.

More on this in the next installment   

Reviews by Hubie Goode: The Life and Times of King David

The Life and Times 

Of King David

  

David, Israel’s greatest leader, defeated the Philistines and subdued them, breaking their power forever. His gifts as a poet, soldier and statesman make him, of all Israel’s kings, the most beloved by his people and the most respected by his enemies.

A brilliant leader, decisive and just, David transformed Israel from a weak and divided kingdom into a formidable empire. This transformation paralleled his own progress from shepherd to king. Throughout his life he was loyal to the Lord and the prophets, a fact that brought him victory against his foes and forgiveness for every human weakness, His colorful court history, written by a close friend, makes him better known to us than any other Old Testament person.

David was indeed, the Lord’s anointed one.

Toward the end of the eleventh century B.C., Israel was finally getting a leg up on its hated enemies, the Philistines. Under the direction of King Saul, several victories had given them the advantage in the foothills and valleys of central Canaan. Saul, however, butted heads with the prophet Samuel more and more. Samuel felt that all too often the King had ignored the special privileges of the prophet’s position. Samuel was soon told to anoint a new monarch for the young kingdom of Israel.

“I repent that I have made Saul king,” said the Lord to Samuel, “for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my commands.” He ordered Samuel to go to the land of Judah “to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”

Samuel feared that Saul would kill him if he learned of the selection of a new king. The Lord reassured him and Samuel then headed for Judah. When he arrived the people were alarmed to see him. The elders came to him asking if he did indeed come in peace. He told them he had come in peace to sacrifice to the Lord, and requested that Jesse and his sons be present.

But when he saw the seven boys that Jesse brought with him, he told them that the Lord had not chosen any of them.

“Are all of your sons here?” Asked Samuel.

“There remains yet the youngest,” responded Jesse, “but he is keeping the sheep.”

“Send and fetch him,” ordered the prophet and David, who was “ruddy... had beautiful eyes, and was handsome,” was brought in.

“Arise, anoint him... this is he,” said the Lord to Samuel. The prophet did as he was commanded and... “the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.”

The Negeb landscape where David hid from Saul

David was then sent back to the hills, where he wandered with the flock of sheep and goats during the day seeking good pasture. The wells in the hills provided the water the animals needed.  In the summer he would sleep with his animals under the sky, curled up in a sheepskin coat. The winter months were guarded against with a tent, cave or stone sheepfold. He ate lots of bread, cheese and olives. The hours were long and lonely and David used this time to play his lyre and write songs. He also gained a widespread knowledge of the territory and rugged terrain of Judea.

As a shepherd he carried a studded club, almost three feet long to protect the flock from predators, and humans alike. He also carried a leather sling which he had made himself. He could throw stones for a considerable distance with it, and developed a great accuracy. With it he could warn an errant sheep of going astray or fell a wolf, bear and even a lion. In his day this is a close as one came to missile defense systems, but it was accurate nonetheless.

David continued his life as a shepherd even after his anointing by Samuel, while at Gibeah, only seven miles away, Saul, unaware of David, continued to war with the Philistines. Breaking with Samuel he fell into deep depression. At times, he approached madness, for the Spirit of God had left him and an evil spirit tormented his mind. His servants suggested that music may indeed clam his mind.

“Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me,” ordered Saul.

One of his men answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse who is skillful in playing and the Lord is with him.”



David was sent for and brought to the castle at Gibeah. It was more of a fort than a royal palace in design and was only two stories tall and rather plain in decor. David played his lyre and sang for the king, and, as his servants had hoped, “Saul was refreshed and the evil spirit departed from him.”



Saul came to love the young musician, in a way of admiration and gratitude, not philio. He then appointed the young boy armor bearer. But David never forsook his families’s duties and traveled back and forth from the palace to his father’s home to care for his sheep at Bethlehem.

Valley of Elah



David was then attending to the flock while Saul was arrayed for battle against the Philistines at the Valley of Elah, in the foothills of the Judean mountains. Three of David’s brothers were in the army of Saul. David’s father sent him to them with some parched grain and ten loaves of bread as well as 10 cheeses for their commander. “See how your brothers fare,” charged Jesse.

As David arrived he could hear the clamor of the Philistines as they lined up for battle. He left his gifts with the keeper of the baggage and searched out his brothers. He ignored their commands to leave and when Goliath stepped out to challenge the army, David was in its ranks.

Goliath challenged them to send their best man out to go mano a mano with him. The bet was for the victor of the fight to the death to lead his people into mastery of the populace.

These sorts of duels between warriors, to decide  the victory between two armies were common place. Sometimes the duels were only between two men, as the term duel would suggest, but at other times they involved groups of elite fighting men who would face each other. The soon to be King David would himself have a group of three men who were such a team. They were known as his greatest warriors. Commanders often loved this sort of thing for it cut way down on military attrition of soldiers. When one considers that an army may have only 12,000 soldiers, it is easy to see why this was the case. The Israelites however, rarely practiced this custom.

David and the slingshot

Goliath was about nine feet eight inches tall. He had the best armor, a bronze helmet and had chain mail that weighed 150 pounds. Greaves of bronze adorned his legs and a huge spear was slung between his shoulders. The spear was so large that its head weighed 20 pounds or so. Just image how long and thick this rod had to be in order to be effective.

No one answered Goliath’s challenge. But David, standing close by, wondered aloud who the hell this Philistine with a foreskin was who dared to challenge the armies of the living God! Saul himself warned him to check his mouth and get back to daddy, but David instead ran out to meet the giant.

Using his field tested missile defense system to the amazement of the armies surrounding him and the giant, he actually felled the Philistine.  He then ran over and beheaded the giant. In the time it takes to throw a stone, the Philistines had lost the battle and a hero was born.

David beheads Goliath

Jonathan, the prince of Israel, was deeply impressed and gave David his best sword, girdle and bow. They made a covenant of friendship that day which would stand the test of time.

more on David and his lifetime in the next segment.

Reviews by Hubie Goode: Everyday Conversations Eternal Impact, Lloyd Pulley, Witness for Christ, Evangelism, Salvation

Book Discussion

Everyday Conversations, Eternal Impact

by Lloyd Pulley

What few people fail to understand about our daily existence, is the sobering reality that we all exist in a world that has been rendered redundant. Nothing is what it was supposed to be, and  this includes each and every one of us. Each day we go through life, getting older, and supposedly wiser, and yet the intrinsic monotonies and repetitive nature of our lives becomes a “throw away” fact as we wonder what we do this for? Why do we live each day to get up, go to work (perhaps), go to the rest room, eat two or three times a day, if indeed we are fortunate to be able to, and then spend one third of our lives in sleep.

We do this until we are taken from this Earthly reality in something that seems like a cruel joke at the end of a boring story, eventually we do all die. Once we are dead, no matter what we have done in life, be we a great hero who spent his life in the service of others, or a maniac who created horror wherever he went, time moves on, and we are soon little more than the grave stone that marks our final resting place; at least that is the case in our perceived reality.

Little does the average man and woman realize the great lengths that atheistic thinking has gone to in filling our heads with a godless reality. Common school teachings from early grades have seen to it that a reality of millions of years of Earth existence is firmly entrenched in our minds as how things really are. Having taken college classes on dinosaurs and archeology, I can attest that the existence of a Paleolithic period is considered scientific fact. And yet, in a reality where one includes Christ, nothing could be further from the truth. (Don’t ask them why the earth is named Earth and not one of the gods like Pluto or Saturn.)

Ideas such as the Garden of Eden, and a "talking snake" seem preposterous and little more than something from a fairy tale, or perhaps a very old lesson in morality. One would, in some circles, be considered intellectually inferior to consider that such a reality ever existed in fact; even more so only something like 6,000-11,000 years ago. Surely we’re much too sophisticated and gripped in a real world to believe such fanciful propositions. Didn’t we all come to grips with Santa Clause at one point or another?

Curiously, it is this very statement of reality that Christ stands for. Indeed, everything that he has brought to this reality stands upon the events in the Garden of Eden. Without it, nothing that Christ is about has any merit. Nothing he did counts for anything. One of the things he did do, was give his life as the atoning sacrifice for ALL mankind past, present and future, as the remedy for those events in the Garden.

Those events, rendering our reality redundant and useless, are what Christ is most concerned with. The sin that occurred there, that of disobedience and believing that there could be a reality where we could do things our own way, whether God liked it or not, is what separated us from God, and continues to do so to this day. Things would have been vastly different had this never happened, and the reasons for our existence would never be questioned, as the monotony of every day life would be the “fairy tail existence”.

In a universe that includes Christ, Jesus is the heart of the reality. Just as you cannot remove your own heart from your chest, or even the kidneys from your back and place them on the table in front of you and expect them to function as they should, or to continue in their present existence, then you also cannot remove Christ from the universe of our reality. Doing so makes the whole thing redundant. Useless.

But not only is Jesus not one who would make an fool out of you by having you believe in insane fairy tales and seemingly impossible reality, but he would not be one to stop loving you because you are a retroactive victim of a cursed reality, and a cursed and fallen populace. His main purpose now is to return all mankind to the incredible reality that Adam and Eve once knew, the physical part of the garden being only a smallest infinitesimal part of that reality.

But how do you show love to a blind and deaf people who are born into a condition set against you. A condition of rejection and unbelief in the smallest, simplest realities that you have to offer them?

In Lloyd Pulleys book, Everyday Conversations Eternal Impact, the writer endeavors to make clear just how Jesus himself went about this action with the fallen state of humanity that surrounded him. A well written and finely articulated book, the author tells stories of his own life and those he has known, which incorporate how the love of Jesus can be brought to a deaf, dumb and blind humanity without hitting them over the head with a Bible.

Pastor Pulley reminds all those who are indeed accepting of Christ, not just the religion and goodness, but also the immense responsibility, that rubbing shoulders with an unbelieving world is not just something we do, but is also an extension of who we are. In the book of Kings, there are many Kings of Israel who are indicted for “throwing God behind their backs”,  and this is something that always leads to Godlessness and a false reality; no matter whether you agree with this or not. If you are one who accepts Christ, then you know there is no such thing as not having Jesus, and what he cares most about, right in front of you on a daily basis. And what he cares about are the millions of souls around you that believe the great lie. A random universe where you can call your own shots is a universe without God.

Concentrating on the story of the woman at the well, Pastor Pulley studies the conversation that Jesus has with her and how he deals with her position as one of those for whom reality may include God, or even some other god, but for whom, as most men and women on the planet believe, God is what conveniences you.

In his 107 page booklet, Lloyd Pulley breaks down and analyzes perhaps the greatest lesson ever displayed in the recounting of the life of Christ. Considering that it is the longest conversation Jesus has with anyone in scripture, there must be something mighty going on here. If only those who have ears will listen!

Though there are many national outreach ministries, and world wide ministries, each man and woman of Christ has his or her own individual ministry right there in their own backyard. And the numbers of those individual ministers are endless, and all too often invisible. This book is geared toward those men and women in the trenches who don’t have the finances and equipment to fall back on for the opportunities to reach the "Christ blind".

There are no slick formulas, or even perspective tricks involved, just the lesson learned from Jesus’ discussion with the woman at the well. You’ll notice in this discussion that not once does the woman at the well tell Jesus to “just keep it to himself”, which is a response many get in today’s secular society. This kind of response would never show up if someone where just showing love to his fellow man. I can’t imagine that a homeless person would tell you to just keep your money to yourself, or for that matter, anyone who was effected by a tragedy like the 9-11 New York terrorism disaster, would have told those giving aid and help, to just “keep it to themselves”.

Learning from the master, Lloyd Pulley shows how we can S.H.A.R.E, that love for the Christ blind, brought about by the disconnect with our creator in the garden which is the root of all of the problems of mankind. The “S” is being sensitive to the spirit and the leading we receive as we are to show the love of Christ. This can’t be done if we are stooped in our own private pet sins which “toss God behind our backs”, and leave the world wondering when we will just all go away and leave them alone. We must ourselves believe that Jesus at the well is with us every step of the way as the prompting of the Holy Spirit, who knows the hearts and minds of all men and women around us, gives us the words to say and the tone and approach to take. But do we believe that this can happen? Do we make ourselves spiritually available to be lead?

The “H” in share, is for humbly building bridges to those who are already set against the word one brings to them about the truth of reality. Keeping a position of love and respect for a person, keeps them open to whatever you might say to them while being spiritually lead. One of the worst things one can do is try to shove food down the mouth of a starving, malnourished street mutt. You will have your hand bitten no matter how much the poor puppy may need what you are giving him. And in reality, you and I both know you would never attempt such a thing, if only for the case of your own safety. This is not to say that the fellow humans around you are analogous to a starving street mutt, for they are far above that. But the starving mutt knows he needs food in his stomach, the starving humanity around you has no clue what it is searching for, and it searches everywhere. Often they run into those who know that a search is going on and will give false “food” to them as long as the money train rolls in their direction. With a humble, and loving respect for the position of starving humanity, the case for Christ can be gently tilled in the soil of those around us, without “digging up God’s little acre”. Pastor Pulley does a fine job of articulating the way this can be done.

One of the things advertising does is this: it promotes products that really don’t exist. What you think you are paying good money for doesn’t exist, and they won’t take imaginary money for the product either. But they know that in order to make a sale one must arouse interest, no matter how flatly untrue the sale is.

Fortunately, those who believe Christ do not have this problem of promoting untruth in order to arouse interest. The unbelieving world around you is searching for the truth in something, somewhere and you, as a Christian, have this. The “A” in share, is all about arousing this interest on a street level, where each person lives. And each person will be different in their level of arouse-ability; but there is something there, in each one. There will be something to arouse an interest in the reality they live separated from God. There can’t help but be this vacuum, because it is the very reason for everything that has happened since the garden. But there are ways to reach this interest, without pre-arranged scripts and fake, stilted conversations. Sometimes all you get to do is sweep away the ground for the next person to plant a seed, but that is still an important point.

The “R” in share concerns the revealing of the disconnect in the persons life from the true reality of a universe subject to a real and active creator. This disconnect is, at its core, the whole subject of sin. It’s important to lead a person to understand that the whole of reality surrounding them is quite different from the perceived one they have perhaps grown up with, always believed was the only truth and accepted because their parents and grandparents accepted it. To reveal that someone is a sinner is often perceived to be about something, like “lust”, “greed”, “envy”, and while those things are indeed true to be sin in their own individual acts, they are more or less the results of this overall disconnect everyone has with the creator of the universe, their own creator. They are at the mercy of cursed and warped parts of their own person, which were never meant to be.

Were we to have the reality of the Garden of Eden right now, actions that we call sin would never be a problem. They are sin now because we seek to satisfy parts of our person that are like broken ropes on a semi truck hauling at a high speed down the freeway in a hurricane; the ropes twist and flap and are without the controls needed which a connection to almighty God would provide. Without this realization of each person’s sin reality before their creator, they are like an alcoholic who can’t admit his dependence.

The “E” in share, is for explaining the plan of salvation. Without the first steps I have outlined here, having the answer for a person’s lost position in the universe is of little use for the common person. Most people will tell you that it was great that Jesus did all that he did, but really, life is both good and bad for everyone, and that’s just the way it is. It’s too bad that this attitude comes around for so many. So few people realize the lengths and depths Christ will go to in order to reach you. To get you to a place where you will absolutely have to deal with your reality, and ultimately His reality. 

I knew a young girl years ago who was only about 19 years old. She was going to college and had her whole life in front of her. One day a garbage truck changed all that and she was instantly killed in an accident. I can’t say that she was ever approached about the need for her re-connecting with the creator of the universe, by accepting Christ; I have no idea. However, I have also seen my share of older persons who have suffered long, debilitating health issues that ultimately brought about their deaths. Those persons, “saw the truck coming”. In a lot of ways, death is something that had to happen after the fall in the garden. This is God’s universe, and things are going to go his way, there will never be a time when ANYONE will not have the inconvenience of dealing with the position of God. You as  creation, him as creator. Sometimes “seeing the truck coming” seems horrific to those of us who watch loved ones suffer, but for an eternal God  who sees our lives like the passing of lawn grass, it may be his strongest moment to reach someone he really loves and wants to have with him in the final eternal reality. If not for death, would anyone ever turn to God?

Ultimately, when all is said and done, and the stone is planted in the yard, and all your friends and family have returned to their lives, our redundant reality ends in death. As persons who believe in what Christ has to say on this, and remember, Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, you have the answer to this horrible, horrible thing called death. But delivering this answer to a cursed humanity must be done in a loving, heartfelt fashion. In this book, the way to go about this is rendered to you in an anointed way which speaks to the heart of every believer.

I highly recommend this book for its delineation of the manner and position Christ himself took in approaching the woman at the well about her need for understanding a reality she was completely blind to, and he opened doors in her heart and then an entire town for the spreading of the “Good News”.  

Lloyd Pulley is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Old Bridge, New jersey. His transparent verse by verse teaching encourages believers to apply the rich truths in Scripture to their daily lives. His radio program, Bridging the Gap, can be heard world wide. Lloyd and his wife, Karen, have two children and three grand children and reside in central New Jersey.

www.everydayeternal.com     

Reviews by Hubie Goode: Ignoring Israel Part 11

Shining City on a Hill

Ignoring Israel


Part 11: Israel and the Rest

So what is the beginning of the process for the end of days? It would seem that the appearance of the two witnesses at the beginning of the tribulation is the key to seeing the future of all mankind, and when that happens we’ve got only seven years until life as we all know it is over with. So don’t look for comets, Mayan calendars or mathematical figures and dates. Once this happens, it’s last call, turn out the lights... the party’s over.

Enoch, like Elijah, never died, and this makes him the prime candidate for the second witness. Due to Moses having died and been buried, for the most part, this eliminates him from the position. When God “took” Enoch, he was translated alive into the presence of God. Enoch also gave the first prophecy about the second return of Christ!

Jude 14-15

And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, “Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgement upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him”.

Elijah and Enoch are the two olive trees in Zechariah 4. Neither one of them ever died, and yet God has appointed it to all men to die once and then to be present at judgement. Their death has been reserved for this very time of history, when they will appear in Israel and have all the power and ability that the world longs to see for itself, but will only strive against them. When you see someone calling down fire from heaven on the nightly news, it’s not a movie trailer for the next Spielburg film.

They are both instrumental in the final days of Israel, and as a result the whole world. In John the Baptist fashion they are preparing the way for the return of the Messiah. They will  be the real voice of God in the Earth, and it will annoy the hell out of most of mankind. Clearly there will be a third temple of some type when the AntiChrist takes over in the half way mark of the tribulation, and it is these two men who will be promoting the building and protecting the progress of its construction while keeping those who would stop such a thing at an arms distance. It’s not hard to see who the major players in this event will be, if you just realize what has been going on for quite a long time in the history of mankind and its time here on Earth.

New Jerusalem

If anyone is familiar with Christian television, and more specifically for this purpose, the station called Daystar, you know that the preaching of the Gospel in Israel has finally, after much time and struggle, begun to happen. In the past there was strict resistance to hearing the Gospel of Christ in Israel, even to the point of having families split apart over acceptance of the Gospel message. It was simply and “un-Jewish” thing to do and accepting Christ as the Messiah was to give up on Yahweh and his promise of a Messiah to lead Israel into a great time of peace and rule. But there have been many changes, and stations like Daystar are now going full and strong in Jerusalem.

The Israeli Parliament has recently issued legislation which have changed the “Law of Return”. For those who wish to immigrate back to Israel from around the world, it is quite the adjustment. Rabbinical laws state that being Jewish relies upon the mother’s status. One cannot marry a “shiksa” and expect the children to be considered Jewish. They, therefore, cannot return to the land of Israel. Believing in Christ as the Messiah also disqualified one from returning. But the times are a changing, and these restrictions are being modified.

Matthew 10:22-23

And you shall be hated by all men for my namesake: but he that endures to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee into another: for truthfully I say to you, you shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man comes.

Isaiah 2:3

And many people shall go and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths, for out of Zion will the law go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

The Gospel must indeed go into all the world, much as the blog here has done, and that includes Israel. (Saying hello to those of you in Israel who have begun to read my blog, shalom to you all!)

I do understand that Yehoshua can be a tough thing for the strict Hebrew, seeing as his first coming was Messiah ben Joseph, and not the Messiah ben David, that has been awaited for since then beginning, but just consider how many times we all get just what we want, especially when dealing with a divine creator whose ways are not our ways.

It would have been quite impossible for Christ to return for his people and establish his throne in Israel before the date of May, 1948. We have, however, witnessed the restoration of the land, the city of Jerusalem also, and the return of the people to the Holy City, since then. The Message of Yehoshua is also taking root there as it never has before. Collectively, these things tell of a “time of restoration of all things”, which is headed our way like it never could have in the past.

There will be more and more political upheaval throughout the world. The Middle east will become a literal hotbed and the news networks will being to cover these events with nauseating  frequency. Israel will literally become a pain in the butt to the whole world, and this is because of the real and active enemy that wants to see them wiped from history once and for all, and I am not talking about Iran, or any Arab nation, although they may be a tool toward this end.

EVERYONE, both corporeal and incorporeal sees the changes in Israel, and if you are up on the information involved here, as the enemy surely is, then all attempts to destroy Israel will be taken, even if it means turning all of mankind against this tiny little slip of land in the middle east.

God has promised Israel that she will see her King of Kings.

You will arise and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favor her, the set time has come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and the dust thereof. The heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the Kings of the Earth thy glory. When the Lord builds up Zion, he shall appear in His glory.

Psalm 102:13-16

Jesus Rules

 The Future..... is NOW

Reviews by Hubie Goode: Ignoring Israel Part 10

Ignoring Israel


Part 10: Israel and Temple

How indeed does the new temple get built on the Dome of the Rock? The Golden Mosque of Omar could perhaps be destroyed by an earthquake. The area is known for seismic activity over the centuries, and this would be no surprise. Its been injured by quake activity before, and has always been repaired. If that did happen again, and even if the mosque were destroyed, then the Muslims would of course rebuild the dome. Mosque land is Muslim land forever. Something strong enough to level the whole building would have Israel occupied with the surrounding territory.

Could the Dome of the Rock be moved? Would such a project as dismantling the building and moving it to a location within Muslim territory be even wise monetarily? This would clear the way for a new temple, but its highly unlikely that the logistics would be surmountable, not to mention the politics.

Could the two buildings coexist? Could the temple be located next to the mosque? In the Great tribulation, there is indeed a temple, for its’ measurements are so ordered.

Revelation 11:1-2

And there was given me a reed like unto a rod; and the Angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the gentiles: and the holy city they shall tread under foot for forty two months.

So you see there is definitely a temple by this time in the Revelation record. The area not measured, that given to the Gentiles, may indeed be the area of the Dome of the Rock. And what about the Anti-Christ?

2 Thessalonians 2:4

Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Therefore, if the Anti-Christ is in the temple during the Tribulation, then definitely there is a temple there on the Temple Mount. Is the Anti-Christ a Muslim? Some say so, and his preventing the worship of God and the temple services that have been re-instituted, would seem to lend credence to the concept. Further study shows that the Anti-Christ will set up something in the temple, probably an image of the Beast, which makes the temple desolate. Having run roughshod over the temple and changed the ceremony, those Jewish leaders and followers would have fled the temple in protest, or perhaps abject fear.

There are those who say that scripture referring to this time has to do with the Roman occupation and war with the Jews that occurred before the year 70 A.D.. However, there is no record of the “abomination that made desolate”. Not only that, but the Revelation record is written about 25 years after the temple is destroyed, and John is told to rise and measure the temple, and those that worship in it. This is about 95 A.D..

Considering the work that it would take to re-build the temple, and the holidays that must be observed during the process, it is conceivable that the temple will take about 42 months to re-build. Now, pay attention here! If the first half of the tribulation is 42 months, and the temple will take that period of time, then it is quite conceivable that we can know when we ARE in the tribulation, by the degree of progress that is made in the rebuilding. In Daniel 9:27, it says that the dedication will coincide with the midst of the week. That is also when the Anti-Christ will kill the two witnesses, and take control of the temple, interrupting the dedication process. He will then demand that the image of the beast be worshiped there instead of God himself. One can see how ignoring Israel can be a blind walk in the park, if you are not careful. If the above is true, and it makes good political and religious sense, therefore keeping an eye on the rebuilding of the temple will let you in on the end of the world, not the Mayan calendar.

The first and second temples were situated north of where the Dome of the Rock is located, and it is also quite possible that the third temple could be built there, sharing Mount Moriah for a time with the Muslim temple. The Temple institute in Israel is already in the middle of planning a new temple, with furniture and clothes and they are not far from the spot where the future temple will stand. Keep your eyes peeled, people!

They have also prepared the gold, silver and brass items that were researched for use in the new temple, and these are not just museum pieces. These are the actual items to be used. Using the Torah, ancient carvings and also some historical references, they have created that exact items as described for temple worship.

There is another group that is pushing for the rebuilding of the temple, they are known as the Temple Mount Faithful. Check out their website, and it explains how their main purpose is to liberate the temple mount from Islamic occupation so that it can be consecrated to the name of G-d.

templeinstitute.org
templemountfaithful.org

It is clear from these websites and some other videos that can also be found on You Tube, that the Israeli mind set is very ordered toward a rebuilt temple. If so, then the return of the Messiah cannot be far behind. According to scripture, there will be a temple during the tribulation. It will come at one of the worst times and be met with fierce opposition.

Many of those of you who know the Bible know who the Sanhedrin were. They go back to the time when Moses was ordered to gather seventy men together in order to have the same spirit of God placed upon them as Moses possessed. They all went to the top of the mountain to meet God. They were commissioned with assisting Moses in the governing of the 1.4 million or so Israelites who wandered the desert. They became the Sanhedrin in the second century B. C..

This was the Jewish “Supreme Court”. They also had a Nasi or high priest who led the committee, and this was also the case during the time of Jesus. They got together and debated matters of the law. Once majority was arrived at, the rule became law, and many of those same laws exist with the Jewish people even today!

Their final decision coming in 358 A.D., when the new Jewish math calendar was proffered, instead of the moon sighting calendar, the Sanhedrin dispersed and have not convened until our current day. It has been about 1600 years now since their last meeting, and they are only now in our day coming back to the practice of meeting. In 2004, they were re-formed, believed by some as invalid until the Messiah returns, but never the less, there is a building mental framework of Israelis returning to a once great national position which includes the original position of great nations like the ones ruled by King David and King Solomon.

But who will rebuild this temple? Will Elijah reappear before the great and terrible day of the Lord? Moses? Enoch? They will be able to prevent anyone from holding up the building of the temple. ANYONE.

more on this next time