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In my musings, I’ve touched on the fact that I am non-compliant, by nature. Today was no exception.
The last few days, I didn’t read the Bible, and I was missing my time with the Holy Spirit. This morning I cheerfully prayed, “Hi! Your choice! What are we reading today?”
Second Samuel.
“Oh, sure. OK. Second Samuel. Ummm…”
Yes?
“Well, that sounds good and all. It’s just that…”
It’s just what?
“I haven’t actually finished – no, I actually haven’t even started First Samuel. So, maybe I should begin there, so I’m not starting halfway through…”
Second Samuel.
“Yes. Definitely. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still read Second Samuel. I just think I should read First Samuel, first.”
Second Samuel.
“Are you sure this is the Holy Spirit? How do I know that this is you, and not me talking myself out of reading two books, instead of one?”
Second Samuel. You’ll see.
(Sigh) “Fine. Second Samuel.”
I got to verse 1:16 and my socks were already blown clean off. I mean, some guy shows up and says he mercy-killed Saul. David rips his clothes off, stops eating, then tells some heavy to kill the killer. Whoah, spicy.
This is where I peeked at First Samuel only to discover that the killer was lying. Yeah, yeah. I went back to First Samuel. Give me a break, I needed context.
At this point I was confused, so I (somewhat contritely) asked Holy Spirit to show me what was going on. This Son-of-an-Amalekite sure seemed like he was taking credit for killing Saul, even though that’s not at all what First Samuel said on the matter. Why lie, only to be killed yourself? And knowing that Saul was so treacherous in his dealings with David, why was David so upset at Saul’s death? I just didn't get it.
So I read verse 1:19, where David is lamenting and says his song should be taught to the people of Judah.
“Thy glory, O Israel, is slain upon thy high places.”
There it was!
Saul represented, to David, the entire nation of Israel. Well, except Judah. And you know who came out of Judah, besides David, right? The Lion of Judah, the Lamb of God, Burden-bearer, Dove, Messenger, Yeshua Ha’Mashiach. Jesus.
So that meant…David represented the Church in this story. And, quite possibly, that meant David was mourning the Glory of God fading away from Israel, who rejected the King that God had chosen for them. And the consequence of that rejection was, if only temporarily, going to lead to some very troubling times for Israel. It’s the very thing Jesus was mourning in Luke 19:41-44:
41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Connecting More Dots
Did you know that both Saul and David married women with the same name: Ahino-am? Translating Hebrew names almost always yields some hidden gem in the story.
Ahino-am means something like “My Brother is Pleasantness”. The one married to Saul had a father whose name is Ahimaaz, which translates to “My Brother is Wrath.” David’s FILs name is not given – but his Ahino-am is from of the region of Jezreel “God Sows”, an area that was originally apportioned to Judah, but eventually transferred to Ephraim. The root of Jezreel is associated with planting seeds, and productive harvests. Interesting, isn’t it? For Saul, there’s a bride who comes from someone named after wrath but for David there’s a bride who comes from a harvest.
I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this. The story looks like another shadow of the Rapture.
You might be saying to yourself, “There she goes again, talking Rapture talk.” OK. That’s fair. But wait until you see what happened next.
David was anointed King of Judah. A surviving son of Saul (whose name is indistinguishable with Sheol) was made king over all the rest of Israel by the commander of Saul’s army, Abner “My Father is a Lamp.” Consider that Satan is said to transform himself into an Angel of Light!
As far as Saul’s newly-crowned son, he bore the name Ish-bosheth, which translates to “Man of Shame.” Seriously! What father would name his son that?
Here’s where it gets really interesting.
The servants of Ish-bosheth, led by Abner, and the servants of David “Beloved”, led by Joab “Jehovah is My Father” sit down facing each other across a pool of water in Gibeon. Water, as you know, represents a crossing, or baptism. Then, Abner suggested a contest between the two groups, and each side sends twelve representatives. Twelve…as in apostles.
The fight is over quickly, and each of the twelve servants of Ish-bosheth are cut down by David’s servants with a thrust from the sword. The representatives of the Man of Shame are defeated.
A chase ensues, culminating in a trumpet blast (doesn’t it always end with a trumpet blast?) at which the pursuit and fighting with Israel cease. But the trumpet blast doesn’t automatically mean rapture. We know that, right, dear reader?
Look at what’s revealed in 2:30-31:
30 Joab returned from the pursuit of Abner. And when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing from David’s servants nineteen men besides Asahel. 31 But the servants of David had struck down of Benjamin 360 of Abner’s men.
Do you see what’s strange about these verses? After all the people were gathered, nineteen were missing from David’s servants. Not dead, not struck down…just missing. But there were 360 men struck down out of Abner’s men.
If this is another shadow of the rapture, which I believe it is, then how fitting that there’s a showdown between the Beloved and the Man of Shame; between My Father is a Lamp and My Father is Jehovah. How perfect that the number of chosen combatants is twelve from each side, and that the representatives of the Beloved side win, using a sword – perhaps of the Spirit. How meaningful that the number of the “missing” men is nineteen – the number of God’s perfect judgement.
Perhaps the 360 is yet another clue? There’s an awful lot of debate about whether we’re using the right calendar. Some say the Enoch calendar (of 360 days) is the correct calendar. Perhaps this shadow in the Bible hints that we should be looking at that calendar?
A Little Bit More
Prior to all this, David received his first bride, who was the younger daughter of Saul. Saul then took her away from David, who went on to marry Ahino-am. Well, Abner decided he needed a truce with David, who wanted to reunite Judah with the rest of Israel (sound familiar?). But he gave a condition to Abner in verse 3:13:
13 And he said, “Good; I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you; that is, you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.”
In other words, until you return the bride originally given to me, you will not see my face. Sounds a lot like Jesus to me.
This story isn’t the first one that looks like a shadow of the Rapture. I’m not sure how many I’ve been led to, actually. But, it got me thinking. What if there are multiple rapture shadows, each with one or more important details, all of which combine to give as much of the total picture as we’re going to get?
What if the signs we’ve been seeing were not only intended to alert us to the season, but also to ensure we’re eagerly searching scripture for clues, and thus remaining in the very Word that will get us through the coming days?
I don’t think we’ll be here long enough to find all the pieces. But, if this kind of study is as interesting to you as it is to me, please post a comment. Maybe we can split up the work. To understand how I came to this, you might have to read my last post, The Layered Nature of the Bible.
Imagine! A real, and relevant, treasure hunt.
Join me.
Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.
In my musings, I’ve touched on the fact that I am non-compliant, by nature. Today was no exception.
The last few days, I didn’t read the Bible, and I was missing my time with the Holy Spirit. This morning I cheerfully prayed, “Hi! Your choice! What are we reading today?”
Second Samuel.
“Oh, sure. OK. Second Samuel. Ummm…”
Yes?
“Well, that sounds good and all. It’s just that…”
It’s just what?
“I haven’t actually finished – no, I actually haven’t even started First Samuel. So, maybe I should begin there, so I’m not starting halfway through…”
Second Samuel.
“Yes. Definitely. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still read Second Samuel. I just think I should read First Samuel, first.”
Second Samuel.
“Are you sure this is the Holy Spirit? How do I know that this is you, and not me talking myself out of reading two books, instead of one?”
Second Samuel. You’ll see.
(Sigh) “Fine. Second Samuel.”
This is where I peeked at First Samuel only to discover that the killer was lying. Yeah, yeah. I went back to First Samuel. Give me a break, I needed context.
At this point I was confused, so I (somewhat contritely) asked Holy Spirit to show me what was going on. This Son-of-an-Amalekite sure seemed like he was taking credit for killing Saul, even though that’s not at all what First Samuel said on the matter. Why lie, only to be killed yourself? And knowing that Saul was so treacherous in his dealings with David, why was David so upset at Saul’s death? I just didn't get it.
So I read verse 1:19, where David is lamenting and says his song should be taught to the people of Judah.
“Thy glory, O Israel, is slain upon thy high places.”
There it was!
Saul represented, to David, the entire nation of Israel. Well, except Judah. And you know who came out of Judah, besides David, right? The Lion of Judah, the Lamb of God, Burden-bearer, Dove, Messenger, Yeshua Ha’Mashiach. Jesus.
So that meant…David represented the Church in this story. And, quite possibly, that meant David was mourning the Glory of God fading away from Israel, who rejected the King that God had chosen for them. And the consequence of that rejection was, if only temporarily, going to lead to some very troubling times for Israel. It’s the very thing Jesus was mourning in Luke 19:41-44:
41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Connecting More Dots
Did you know that both Saul and David married women with the same name: Ahino-am? Translating Hebrew names almost always yields some hidden gem in the story.
Ahino-am means something like “My Brother is Pleasantness”. The one married to Saul had a father whose name is Ahimaaz, which translates to “My Brother is Wrath.” David’s FILs name is not given – but his Ahino-am is from of the region of Jezreel “God Sows”, an area that was originally apportioned to Judah, but eventually transferred to Ephraim. The root of Jezreel is associated with planting seeds, and productive harvests. Interesting, isn’t it? For Saul, there’s a bride who comes from someone named after wrath but for David there’s a bride who comes from a harvest.
I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this. The story looks like another shadow of the Rapture.
You might be saying to yourself, “There she goes again, talking Rapture talk.” OK. That’s fair. But wait until you see what happened next.
David was anointed King of Judah. A surviving son of Saul (whose name is indistinguishable with Sheol) was made king over all the rest of Israel by the commander of Saul’s army, Abner “My Father is a Lamp.” Consider that Satan is said to transform himself into an Angel of Light!
As far as Saul’s newly-crowned son, he bore the name Ish-bosheth, which translates to “Man of Shame.” Seriously! What father would name his son that?
Here’s where it gets really interesting.
The fight is over quickly, and each of the twelve servants of Ish-bosheth are cut down by David’s servants with a thrust from the sword. The representatives of the Man of Shame are defeated.
A chase ensues, culminating in a trumpet blast (doesn’t it always end with a trumpet blast?) at which the pursuit and fighting with Israel cease. But the trumpet blast doesn’t automatically mean rapture. We know that, right, dear reader?
Look at what’s revealed in 2:30-31:
30 Joab returned from the pursuit of Abner. And when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing from David’s servants nineteen men besides Asahel. 31 But the servants of David had struck down of Benjamin 360 of Abner’s men.
Do you see what’s strange about these verses? After all the people were gathered, nineteen were missing from David’s servants. Not dead, not struck down…just missing. But there were 360 men struck down out of Abner’s men.
If this is another shadow of the rapture, which I believe it is, then how fitting that there’s a showdown between the Beloved and the Man of Shame; between My Father is a Lamp and My Father is Jehovah. How perfect that the number of chosen combatants is twelve from each side, and that the representatives of the Beloved side win, using a sword – perhaps of the Spirit. How meaningful that the number of the “missing” men is nineteen – the number of God’s perfect judgement.
Perhaps the 360 is yet another clue? There’s an awful lot of debate about whether we’re using the right calendar. Some say the Enoch calendar (of 360 days) is the correct calendar. Perhaps this shadow in the Bible hints that we should be looking at that calendar?
A Little Bit More
Prior to all this, David received his first bride, who was the younger daughter of Saul. Saul then took her away from David, who went on to marry Ahino-am. Well, Abner decided he needed a truce with David, who wanted to reunite Judah with the rest of Israel (sound familiar?). But he gave a condition to Abner in verse 3:13:
13 And he said, “Good; I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you; that is, you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.”
In other words, until you return the bride originally given to me, you will not see my face. Sounds a lot like Jesus to me.
This story isn’t the first one that looks like a shadow of the Rapture. I’m not sure how many I’ve been led to, actually. But, it got me thinking. What if there are multiple rapture shadows, each with one or more important details, all of which combine to give as much of the total picture as we’re going to get?
I don’t think we’ll be here long enough to find all the pieces. But, if this kind of study is as interesting to you as it is to me, please post a comment. Maybe we can split up the work. To understand how I came to this, you might have to read my last post, The Layered Nature of the Bible.
Imagine! A real, and relevant, treasure hunt.
Join me.
Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.
Absolutely miraculous gems you’ve found!!! All hidden in plain sight for us to FIND now that we are eagerly desperately and open eyed searching everywhere for more of our Jesus and WHEN he will come for us!!!!!
ReplyDeleteGod is so good to us, if only we seek Him out!
DeleteVery interesting, 19 missing, 360 struck down? Hmm.
ReplyDeleteEnoch was 365 years old when he was raptured, does that not possibly point to our calendar?
He was born on Pentecost and thought to be taken the same day. King David was born and died the same day, 70 years of age.?
Yes! The 360 vs. the 365 in scripture is also really intriguing. I'm working on the Seven Churches right now, but would love it if someone (hint hint) would check out 360/365. :-)
Delete