HomeARC ML 0000U
"A PARABLE OF DAVID AND SAUL"--MO Summer, 1970 DO NO.U
Copyrighted November, 1977 by The Children of God
C.P. 748, 00100, Rome, Italy
(On an occasion when King Saul came to seek David's life at the Cave of Adullam--TSC, Summer, 1970.)
1. WHY DO THE MIGRANT WORKERS TAKE IT? BECAUSE THEY'VE GOT NO PLACE ELSE TO GO, and they're not yet fully organised, unionised, and the revolution has not yet begun--because that's the only time they're ever going to get any place else.
2. LET ME TELL YOU RIGHT NOW, IF THEY OR THE REVOLUTIONARY FORCES OF THIS NATION RIGHT NOW AT THIS MOMENT SHOULD DECIDE TO RISE UP and start a genuine, violent, total revolution in this country (USA, 1970), I want to tell you something: As some of the outstanding leaders of the violent revolutionary forces have said, "We would be totally crushed. We would be an abortion or an abortive revolution, and we would be totally crushed. We are not ready; we are not strong enough."
3. THE MIGRANT WORKERS HAVE TO TAKE IT BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO PLACE ELSE TO GO. Do you get the point? Beloved, they are still taking it and still starving because they don't have any place to go. They don't have a leader and the strength yet to revolt, but the time is coming and soon will be! (And Chavez came!)
4. DAVID AND HIS MEN OUT IN THE CAVE OF ADULLAM HAD TO HIDE WHEN SAUL WITH HIS ARMY OF 30,000 OR SO CAME TO SEEK HIM, because David only had 400-600 men and it would have been suicide to have to confront Saul and try to beat him at his own game on his own ground. Are you getting the point? Because Saul could have upset the whole thing and then gotten rid of David and his men!
5. SO WHAT DID DAVID DO EVERY TIME SAUL CAME OUT TO SEEK HIM? Even though David could have even slain Saul upon occasion in his sleep, think about it now: What would have happened if he had?
6. WHAT IF DAVID HAD DECIDED TO START A GENERAL REVOLT in the ranks, a civil war within the kingdom, with David and his forces fighting the forces of Saul and his house before he was ready? Who would have been the winner? Who would have taken advantage of the whole situation? The Benjamites? Worse than that, worse than that! The outsiders, the Philistines!
7. THE KINGDOM, THE TOTAL KINGDOM WOULD HAVE BEEN LOST because the enemy would have attacked while the kingdom was engaged in civil war. The Philistines would have attacked and wiped them out. There is nothing the System loves better than a church fight because it means divide and conquer, and they know that it destroys the religious people and their testimony and gives them an excuse to attack. Are you getting the point?
8. DAVID WAS OUT-MANNED, OUT-GUNNED, AND OUT-LEGALISED. DAVID HAD NO LEGAL TITLE TO THE KINGDOM YET only the anointing of God--a spiritual title. God had appointed him to become the head of the kingdom, but neither Saul nor the rest of the kingdom nor the world in general recognised it. It wasn't on paper. The kingdom wasn't in his name. He didn't have the title deed! You know the System loves paperwork!
9. IT DIDN'T MATTER THAT GOD HAD GIVEN DAVID THE ANOINTING AND THE BLESSING and the power and the wisdom and the method and message to carry on. Saul was still officially king and held the title to the property and the official title to the power. And if David had tried to question it, David had no legal right to question anything. He didn't have the power to demand anything, the material power, and he had no place else to go. Are you getting the point?
10. HE WAS OUT-MANNED, OUT-GUNNED, AND OUT-LEGALISED, AND IN ORDER TO GET IT HE WOULD HAVE HAD TO KILL THE SERVANT OF THE LORD. And if he had, what would have been the result? Immediate civil war! You think the Benjamites, just because he killed Saul, would have fallen all over themselves to fall down and worship David? It would have had just the opposite effect: It would have so infuriated and incensed them and given them their excuse to kill David!
11. NOW MIND YOU, IT WAS THE BENJAMITES THAT WERE CONTINUALLY HARASSING SAUL TO GET DAVID. This is why every now and then he'd finally yield and run out to the Cave of Adullam looking for him, as he has here. The parallel is identical. I told some of your leaders before this visit I knew exactly why they were coming--because the Benjamites were after my hide and had egged the king to do it, to come out here and get control, as they think they now have control and they're winning.
12. LET ME TELL YOU, JOSHUA HAS BEEN REALLY SMART. SAUL EVEN THINKS HE HAS WEANED THEM AWAY FROM US and that they will do as he says now, no matter what. He has endeavoured to divide David's forces and he thinks that he has won their loyalty, and "Therefore, now that we've got this part of David's forces in our hand, we will come out to the Cave of Adullam; we will either conquer or destroy the rest of them. Either they are going to say "uncle" and know who's boss, or we'll clean 'em out in 24 hours!"
13. SO IT SHOULD HELP YOU TO REALISE WHY YOU HAD BETTER HONOUR THE KING AND SAY, "YES, SIR, YOU'RE THE BOSS!"--even if you don't believe it and you know it's not so, even though you know God is your Boss and you know God has divinely appointed leaders. It's your revolution, not theirs; they couldn't care less about the Revolution! They couldn't give a damn! It's to hell with the Revolution, as far as they're concerned!
14. BUT YOU HAD BETTER WATCH YOUR STEP AND WATCH YOUR WORDS RIGHT NOW, or like some of these poor migrants who were interviewed by NBC, they got tossed out of their homes afterwards for even talking to the reporters! Watch out what you say and watch out what you do, because we're not quite ready to leave yet, unless you want to walk down that road! But God is preparing a way. Just don't rush it, don't rush it; God will take care of us, don't worry.
15. GOD'S WORD SAYS FEEL SORRY FOR THEM, FEEL SORRY FOR THEM. Don't even worry about the damned System. I feel sorry for them--look what's going to happen to them! They're going to be one hell of a mess! God is in control; God is going to take care of us. Amen? Praise the Lord!
16. SAUL BETTER WATCH OUT OR HE'LL BREAK HIS NECK, BUT IF WE ENDEAVOUR TO DO IT AND TAKE THE THING IN OUR HANDS, WE'LL MAKE ONE HELL OF A MESS OUT OF IT OURSELVES! All we know how to do is what God tells us to do, because that always works. And God told me, "As David with Saul."
17. SO WHEN SAUL CAME OUT TO THE CAVE OF ADULLAM HE LITERALLY WANTED TO MURDER DAVID, GET RID OF HIM, AND GET CONTROL OF HIS FORCES. That was a pretty good fighting force David had out there: 600 fighting men! And Saul was stupid enough to think that if he could just get rid of David they would probably follow him.
18. NOW I'M TELLING YOU THINGS ABOUT THE DAVID IN THE BIBLE AND SO ON-HA! "Why speakest thou unto them in parables? I speak unto them in parables; unto the Scribes and Pharisees I speak in parables. Because unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, but unto them it is not given." (Mark 4:11)
19. SAUL CAME OUT TO GET DAVID AT THE BEHEST OF THE BENJAMITES, mind you. David made that very clear at every meeting they had: "Why hearest thou men's words against me? Why do you let them stir you up against me? Why, I could have killed you but I've been loyal through the years. Many's the time I could have killed you. I could have killed you; I could have been disloyal."
20. DAVID WAS LOYAL, BUT HE WASN'T STUPID. He knew the king. Loyalty doesn't mean that when the king takes a javelin and he starts to throw it to kill you, that you just stand there and take it. If you're not ready to throw it back, then you duck and beat it, right?--When there's nothing else you can do. Especially if God told you to "Touch not the Lord's anointed and do His prophets no harm."
21. DAVID DIDN'T EVEN LISTEN WHEN HIS OWN MEN SAID, "YOU OUGHT TO KILL HIM; you ought to tell the host of the Philistines." David said, "I will not lift my hand against the Lord's anointed." It didn't matter if Saul was as crooked as a dog's hind leg and if he couldn't trust him any further than you can throw an elephant by the tail, he still wasn't going to lift his hand against him. He said, "I'll let God take care of him. It's God's business; let God take care of him.
22. "IN THE MEANTIME, BOYS, HERE WE ARE OUT HERE IN THE CAVE OF ADULLAM; we've got at least 600 plus our wives and our children, and we've got no place else to go at present. So listen, buddy boy, we're not about to get out and fight and attack the forces of Saul and the Benjamites who have got everything going for them but God." Do you get the point?
23. WELL, WHO DID SAUL LISTEN TO AFTER HE NO LONGER HEARD FROM THE LORD? He sought counsel of the witch of Endor. That's who he listens to.
24. WHY DIDN'T DAVID DECIDE TO MAKE AN ALL-OUT ATTACK AND GET RID OF SAUL? He had every reason to, because Saul, at the inspiration of the Benjamites was trying to drive him from the inheritance of the Lord. David had a good enough reason to attack. Why didn't he? Because it wasn't God's time yet; it could have destroyed not only David and his men, but also the kingdom. It could have meant civil war, which would cause the System to rise up and destroy both of you.
25. DAVID NEVER CAME TO THAT POINT WITH SAUL. He may have discussed those things, but when he met Saul face to face at the Cave of Adullam, it's not recorded. The only thing David said to Saul was, he as good as said, "I have been faithful and loyal; I have not rebelled against the king. I could have killed you many times, but I didn't."
26. TO PROVE IT, DAVID ONCE CUT OFF A PIECE OF SAUL'S SKIRT AS HE SLEPT, and another time took Saul's spear and cruse of water as he slept--each time showing Saul how he could easily have killed him, but didn't touch him.
27. IF DAVID HAD MURDERED SAUL IN HIS HASTE, THIS WOULD HAVE SO EMBITTERED THE HOUSE OF SAUL AND THE BENJAMITES AND GIVEN THEM AN EXCUSE FOR NEVER FORGIVING DAVID. He could have turned the whole kingdom against him by some such act.
28. BUT GOD NEVER ALLOWED DAVID TO EVEN COME INTO OPEN CONFLICT AND WARFARE WITH SAUL. Why? Think it over. Not only because there would have been civil war that would have given advantage to the enemies around, but there's another reason.
29. IF DAVID HAD WON, and managed to fight off Saul with one hand and the Philistines with the other, what would have been the result to the kingdom? Division! Many people would have been lost to the Children of God!
30. I WARN YOU, IF THERE CAME ANY OPEN DIVISION BETWEEN US AND THE KING IN AN OPEN BATTLE OR CONFRONTATION, do you know that there are some of those babes just ignorant enough and stupid enough not to know any better than to take his side! I've seen it happen before, because they don't know what's going on.
31. YOU CAN TELL BY THE WAY SOME OF THEM SAY AMEN AND THE WAY ONE OF THEM PROPHESIED the other night--not you, but somebody else. I heard your prophecies and they were right on the button. I felt sorry you stopped when you did, because I felt there was more coming. But God knows, maybe Saul couldn't have stood it. I was just hanging on every word and itching for more, but probably if there had been more God wouldn't have been able to keep His peace and would have told him off, resulting in an open break, which we can't afford at this moment. Do you get the point?
32. BELOVED, I'M LETTING YOU INTO MY HEART, IN CONFIDENT TRUST IN YOU, AND TELLING YOU THE REASONS WHY. You are our leaders. You are as teachers, you're the leaders; you are those I trust, the mighty men. Out of all David's 600, there were only 60 mighty men, so-called mighty men--I mean the outstanding leaders and men of great valour.
33. SO WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF THERE HAD BEEN OPEN CONFRONTATION, AN OPEN BREAK? Many of the sheep would have been lost; many of the babes would have been hurt; many of the citizens would have been lost. Right? And the kingdom would have been wounded and injured and so decimated and damaged that it might have been almost irreparable; it would have taken a long time for it to heal. But David conducted himself wisely. Now think about this.
34. WHAT DID GOD DO IN ORDER TO UNITE THE KINGDOM? He didn't unite it through civil war. He united the kingdom by letting David be driven completely out first, utterly out of the kingdom. And David had to flee, not to Tyre who might have been a friend of Saul, not to the king of Ammon who might have decided it was to his advantage to turn David in, since he and Saul were so close.
35. BUT WHEN DAVID FINALLY FLED THE KINGDOM, HE WENT OVER TO ISRAEL'S MOST BITTER ENEMIES, with whom there was no peace. They were avowed to wipe Israel off the face of the map. David went where he knew Saul would never follow him.
36. HE WENT TO THE MOST DANGEROUS, BUT AT THE SAME TIME ABOUT THE SAFEST PLACE he could have been--the most dangerous as far as the System was concerned, but the safest place as far as Saul was concerned. Because, believe it or not, Saul had become more dangerous than the System!
37. SO HE EVEN HAD TO FLEE TO THE SYSTEM FOR A WHILE, UNTIL THE SYSTEM TURNED AROUND AND DESTROYED SAUL SO THAT SAUL'S BLOOD WAS NOT ON DAVID'S HANDS, and so he would even write a Psalm of lament for Saul and Jonathan, which is one of the most beautiful and saddest passages in the Word of God. "The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen...." (2Sam.1:17-27) It practically makes me weep every time I read it.
38. GOD HAD TO REMOVE DAVID FROM THE KINGDOM SO THAT WHATEVER HAPPENED WOULDN'T BE DAVID'S FAULT, so when God was ready, David could move back in and unite the kingdom and they couldn't blame it on him. David even punished some of those people who thought to prove loyalty to him by killing some of Saul's men. "Oh, I'm loyal to you now, David; I was for Saul, but now I'm David's!"--and they killed some of their former buddies.
39. SO GOD REMOVED DAVID FROM THE KINGDOM AND IT LOOKED LIKE SAUL HAD REALLY WON, but then Saul lost the kingdom completely to the System. God only knows what parallels there will be in the future; so far it has paralleled the story almost to a "T."
40. BUT BECAUSE DAVID AND HIS MEN HAD PRETENDED TO GO OVER, YOU MIGHT SAY, AND JOIN THE SYSTEM or another country or the enemy, the very country that David went over into was the one who conquered Saul and Israel: the Philistines. David pretended with his men to be their friend, and they lived long enough until Saul was gone and until Israel was ready to accept David as the king.
41. IN FACT, NORTHERN ISRAEL WAS NOT EVEN READY FOR QUITE A WHILE, AS YOU MAY RECALL. He first went and reigned just over Judah and Benjamin at Hebron, and it was 7 years before Israel accepted him as king. It says there was a long war after Saul's death--remember, there was long war between the house of David and the house of Saul.
42. WHEN DAVID MOVED BACK INTO ISRAEL, REMEMBER, ISRAEL WAS MORE OR LESS A CONQUERED COUNTRY, conquered by the enemies to whom he had fled. So therefore, he was perfectly at peace to go into this conquered territory, because supposedly he represented the enemy, and to take over as its governor and its king. So it served manifold purposes of God.
43. YOU TALK ABOUT THE WISDOM OF GOD, DAVID NEVER HAD TO HAVE SAUL'S BLOOD ON HIS HANDS. God took care that he never had to antagonize the rest of the kingdom and the babes and whatnot, whatever you want to call 'em, by fighting a civil war. And he was on the winning side when he came back in, so that he virtually was the conquering side, and was almost like an official of the Philistines!
44. ALSO, BECAUSE HE HAD PLAYED IT FAIR AND LOYAL AND NOT DONE ANYTHING TO PARTICULARLY OFFEND THE OTHER SIDE, but had been forgiving and was forgiving, he was quickly able to unite the kingdom. You understand? I'm trying to explain to you now why you had better watch your P's and Q's and mind your words and your walk and don't get so damned self-righteous to think you can blow it and tell somebody off!
45. BECAUSE I'M SURE THAT UNTIL GOD IS READY TO DELIVER THE KINGDOM TO DAVID, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, GET THIS: DAVID STILL NEEDED SAUL, or rather, God still needed Saul to keep the kingdom together, what was left of it, even though Saul wasn't willing to turn it over.
46. SO REMEMBER ONE THING: DAVID WAS VERY WISE ABOUT HOW HE HANDLED SAUL, AND HE EVENTUALLY EVEN WON THE HOUSE OF SAUL. Because he was careful not to lay his hands on Saul, he eventually even won over, not only the other 10 tribes of the kingdom, but also the house of Saul itself! God's way is best! (Read for yourself the whole story of David and Saul in 1Samuel 8 through 2Samuel 5.)--Amen! (P.S.--1977: So we followed God's way and won a greater kingdom than Saul's! PG! It always pays to follow God! PTL!--Dad.)
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family}
