Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville

Giants and Grasshoppers - Part Four

May 09, 2021 Cornerstone Christian Fellowship
Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville
Giants and Grasshoppers - Part Four
Show Notes Transcript

Ex 17:10 So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

We will continue to look at the battle with 'Amalek' in the life of the Christian.

The full text of this message can be found by here.

Sunday May 9th 2021
Giants and Grasshoppers
Part Four



1). Ex 17:10 So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

We had seen last time, in the foundational picture of the battle with ‘Amalek’, that Moses, Aaron and Hur were to be found on the top of the hill during the battle, with the hill used symbolically to represent a Kingdom. It was then the location of Moses, Aaron and Hur, on the top of the hill, that was of paramount importance in the defeat of Amalek and being on the top of the hill that enabled Aaron and Hur to help Moses during the battle.
a). Or to say this very simply, Amalek could not have been defeated if Moses, Aaron and Hur had not been on the top of the hill – Ro 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh [where Amalek lives] you will die; but if by the Spirit [from the top of the hill] you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

We had seen that where we have our focus and how we conduct our lives in relation to that focus, according to the flesh or according to the Spirit, will determine our victory or defeat in the battle against the man of the flesh - Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

And we had concluded our study last week with the introduction of the type of Abraham and Lot, where Abraham pictures the Spirit led, Kingdom focused Christian and Lot the carnally minded Christian whose spiritual awareness has become dulled. And the contrast between these two types of Christian is shown to us through the different location on which each had focused his attention and in which each one dwelt – 
Ge 13:10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. 12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan [In the hill country], and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom.

Abraham remained in the hill country [on top of the hill], where he stood before the Lord, and except for the time when he went to rescue Lot and when he pleaded for the righteous in Sodom, what took place in the cities of the plain below was of no interest to him. Whereas Lot, not only dwelt in the plain below, which he had chosen for himself, but also sat in the gate of Sodom, actively engaged in the affairs of the city – 2 Pe 2:6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)—

On the day in which God turned ‘the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes’, Abraham observed the events from afar. He was an observer not a participant - Ge 19:27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD. 28 Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace.

For Lot though, there was no such detachment. Because he had settled down permanently among the depravity and unbridled lust of the city, witnessing day in and day out their lawless acts, his carnality had dulled his spiritual awareness. And so, on the same day that Abraham watched from afar, Lot’s experience had become intertwined with the fate of the place, the city of Sodom, on which he had set his focus and in which he lived.
b). And yet, just moments before God’s judgment was poured out on the cities of the plain, Lot, through the ministry of the angels was warned of the impending judgment and given the way of escape – 
Ge 19:17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life [soul]! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest you be destroyed.”

Lot was told to ‘escape’, to flee from his attachment to Sodom, and he was to do this for his soul. He was told not to look behind him as he left, or to stay anywhere in the plain. He was instead to ‘escape to the mountain’. There needed to be a complete change of focus on Lot’s part, even at this late stage. He was to switch his focus from the cities of the plain to the mountain, from this world to the Kingdom set before him.
c). And if Lot did not make this separation, then he would be destroyed along with that with which he had become intertwined.
d). And the warning, with the way of escape, has been made known in every generation of the eternally saved for the past 2000 years. It is the cry concerning midnight, because the Bridegroom is coming, from the parable of the wise and foolish virgins; it is in the whole counsel of God preached to the Ephesians seen in Acts Chapter 20, and within the context of the Laodicean Church time in which we live, it is the Lord standing at the door and knocking for anyone who will hear His voice – Col 1:28 Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

But for the carnal Christian wholly immersed in the affairs of this life, who has become dull of hearing because of it, he like Lot, will be unable to receive or understand the seriousness of the warning and the instructions given. He will know that something is coming and yet he will have no sense of the urgency for him to be found in the right place when it does come – Ge 19:18 Then Lot said to them, “Please, no, my lords! 19 Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. 20 See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.”

As judgment comes upon the cities of the plain, so Lot and his wife are caught up in judgment also and the judgment they receive needs to be viewed together to provide the complete picture for the carnally minded Christian – Ge 19:25 So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Ge 19:30 Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave.

Lot’s wife did exactly that which the angel had commanded not to be done, she looked back, and because of where her attention was focused, where she looked back to, she was destroyed along with the city to which she looked. This is one part of the picture. Lot, we see in the mountain he had been told to escape to, but there in fear, in an entirely different place on the mountain to Abraham. Abraham continued to stand on the top of the mountain before the Lord, whereas Lot is found in a cave, a place associated with darkness and shame. And this completes the picture.
e). So, let’s put all this together, in the life of the Christian – 
1 Jn 2:17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

The world and the things in the world are passing away and the day will shortly come, as in the days of Lot, when the present world system will be completely overthrown. Because this day is coming, the Christian is to flee from the world, keeping his focus out ahead on the Millennial Kingdom, staying on the top of the hill as his soul/life for the age to come depends upon it – Lk 9:62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Lk 17:32 Remember Lot's wife.

But for the carnal Christian, of whom Lot is the type, because his spiritual senses are dulled through being intertwined with the world, he can do nothing other than look back to where his life is, to where his attention is, to where his interests lie. He does not have the spiritual awareness to do anything else. And when Satan’s kingdom is overthrown, beginning with his appearance at the Judgment Seat, then he will inevitably be overthrown with the place he had made his home. He will be ‘destroyed’ with respect to his high calling, finding himself in a place associated with darkness and shame throughout the Millennial Kingdom. It is just as the Scripture says - Col 3:1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. 

It is the Christian then, who has set his mind on things above, on the top of the hill, as Abraham, who will have victory over Amalek. But the Christian who sets his mind on things on the earth, who is to be found among the cities of the plain like Lot, will not only have already lost the battle with Amalek, but will also lose his soul/life for the age to come. Both will be ‘in the Millennial Kingdom’ but their experiences will be radically different.

2). And this same teaching is presented to us again through another type, through Saul, Israel’s first king. We might remember from Exodus Chapter 17 that God had said He would utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And it was to Saul that this task was given 
1 Sa 15:1 Samuel also said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the LORD. 2 Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”

The command given to Saul was unambiguous, utterly destroy Amalek, leaving nothing alive. And within the antitype the reason for this will be obvious – Ro 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells……….

Ga 6:8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

Ga 4:29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”

There can only be one response when dealing with the man of the flesh, he must be put to death, in faithful obedience to the Scriptures – 
Ro 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Saul, however, was not wholehearted in his obedience to God’s command 1 Sa 15:7 And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

Saul, and those with him, utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword, but they spared Agag, King of the Amalekites, and all that was good, thereby doing what was right in their own eyes, keeping the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs. These they were not willing to destroy, only that which was despised and worthless was put to death.
a). Offering to the Lord that which was despised and worthless might remind us of a previous study in Malachi – Mal 1:3 You also say, ‘Oh, what a weariness!’ And you sneer at it,” Says the LORD of hosts. “And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; Thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand?” Says the LORD.

There is nothing in the man of the flesh that has any value. It is as Paul said in Romans Chapter 7. The deception is to believe that there is some part of our old man, which is worth keeping, a part that we find pleasing in our own eyes, that we think we can offer in the service of the Lord.  But to keep alive that which is despised and worthless, the man of the flesh, and then to present him to the Lord believing we are being obedient can only bring the same response from the Lord that we saw in Malachi and that which we are about to see with regards to Saul – 
1 Sa 15:13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” 15 And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak on.” 17 So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel? 18 Now the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the LORD?” 20 And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.”

Saul attempted to blame the people for his lack of obedience, ‘the people took of the plunder.’ But remember, Saul is the king, no one could take the plunder without his approval. And Saul it seems, was more concerned about pleasing the people, than pleasing God.
b). But there are no extenuating circumstances. The Word of God is to be obeyed and is not open to negotiation. And the failure to obey must bring consequences – 1 Sa 15:22 So Samuel said: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
He also has rejected you from being king.”

Why was Saul rejected as king? Because he did not wholeheartedly obey the Word of the Lord, because he did not utterly destroy Amalek as he had been commanded – Col 3:5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.

2 Pe 2:20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

God’s rejection of Saul as king over Israel is dramatically brought to its conclusion at the end of his life – 2 Sa 1:1 Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had stayed two days in Ziklag, 2 on the third day, behold, it happened that a man came from Saul's camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. So it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the ground and prostrated himself.3 And David said to him, “Where have you come from?”So he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” 4 Then David said to him, “How did the matter go? Please tell me.” And he answered, “The people have fled from the battle, many of the people are fallen and dead, and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.” 5 So David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?” 6 Then the young man who told him said, “As I happened by chance to be on Mount Gilboa, there was Saul, leaning on his spear; and indeed the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him. 7 Now when he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 8 And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ So I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ 9 He said to me again, ‘Please stand over me and kill me, for anguish has come upon me, but my life still remains in me.’ 10 So I stood over him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them here to my lord.”

That seen here at Saul’s end parallels what we saw with Lot. Both types teach the same thing. And the irony in 2 Samuel will not be lost on us. If Saul had utterly destroyed the Amalekites as he had been commanded there would have been no Amalekite to take his life and most probably, he would not have been defeated by the Philistines in the first place.
c). Now, look a little closer, if Saul had killed the Amalekite the Amalekite could not have killed him. Not only is the Amalekite responsible for Saul’s death, once he had fallen, but also for stripping him of his regality. He took the crown from his head and the bracelet that was on his arm.
d). And here in this type from 2 Samuel is the substance of the warning given to the Church in Philadelphia in Revelation Chapter 3 – 
Re 3:11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.

There is only one person who can take our life from us for the age to come and who can strip us of our regality with respect to the age, and that is Amalek, the man of the flesh. The teaching through the type is clear, kill Amalek now or in the end he will kill you. There is no middle ground.
e). And so that we don’t miss the importance of this, look how Samuel dealt with Agag the Amalekite king – 1 Sa 15:32 Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me.” So Agag came to him cautiously. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.

And look how David dealt with the Amalekite who took Saul’s crown – 
2 Sa 1:14 So David said to him, “How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the LORD'S anointed?” 15 Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go near, and execute him!” And he struck him so that he died. 16 So David said to him, “Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the LORD'S anointed.’ ”

The man of the flesh must not be allowed to live, he has no inheritance with the man of the spirit, he is our enemy. Either we will choose to continually put him to death now or he will be responsible for our death at the Judgment Seat. And at the Judgment Seat, the Christian who has allowed the man of the flesh to live, will lose his life/soul for the age to come, he will be stripped of his regality, fit only for the garbage dump outside the city - Jn 12:25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for age lasting life. 

To allow Amalek, the man of the flesh, to live, is for us to come down from the top of the hill and to live among the cities of the plain. It is to leave our first love deceiving ourselves. It is to choose not to put on the whole armor of God and therefore be overcome by the wiles of the devil. It is to unite our Kingdom experience with the overthrow of the world system under Satan. It is to commit spiritual suicide. 
f). But for the Christian who utterly destroys Amalek – 
Heb 12:18 For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. 20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” 21 And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”) 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

Mt 13:43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

More next time if we remain and the Lord is willing.