54 – Israel’s New King: Saul, The Embodiment Of The Son Of Perdition – Part 1

FULL MEETING WITH MIDRASH HERE

NOTE: THE TRANSCRIPT IS NOT EXACTLY LIKE THE RECORDING.

The study of King Saul as a type of the son of perdition is relevant to us at this time because YHVH sent him to punish Israel for their rejection and another son of perdition will be sent to punish Israel in the end of days. Saul’s Kingship has parallels which will help us to deepen our understanding of the one commonly called son of perdition.

Let’s define the terms. The spirit of son of perdition has existed since even before the 1^st century. This spirit showed up in the Garden of Eden and worked diligently to prevent Yeshua’s mission and continues in its attempts to thwart YHVH’s will. It is called the antichrist spirit.

Apostle John spoke of the antichrist spirit in 1 John 1 John 2:18-22, 1 John 4:3 and 2 John 1:7. This is the only place in scripture where the term antichrist is used. Nowhere do the scriptures equate the son of perdition with the antichrist. We must get our terminologies straight because “antichrist” is a spirit against the Messiah, Yeshua. The son of perdition is a man filled with the antichrist spirit. He will cause his followers to be filled with this same spirit, too. Understand that unless you are filled with YHVH’s Holy Spirit, you will fall to the son of perdition who is filled with the antichrist spirit.  

The word perdition is Strong’s G684, apōleia. It  means ruin or loss (physical, spiritual or eternal): – damnable (-nation), destruction, die, perdition, perish, pernicious ways, waste. Some Bible translations use the word “destruction”, as in son of destruction.

The related Hebrew words are numerous. There are very many ways in YHVH’s Hebrew language in which His people can destroy themselves.

Another term from this man is “man of sin”, Strong’s G266, hamartia in Greek. Since the word “perdition” singles this man’s intent better than the word “destruction”, I will continue to use “perdition”.

Saul was an early type and shadow of the end times son of perdition. People think they will know how to identify the son of perdition. They think they will know him when they see him, but they won’t. Many will be deceived; even the elect, if possible. This is because he will so closely mimic Yeshua. We will need to be armed with every bit of information and every nuance so we can find to properly identify him. Saul’s account will help us with that.

Let’s go slowly to unpack the hidden prophetic aspects of Saul and parallels he has to the man of sin and son of perdition. This will be a very deep dive and I’m going to keep it short. But I intend to delve into the prophecies Saul portrays for our times.

1 Samuel 9:1 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite [who remains nameless], [but who was] a mighty man of valor.

My insertions within that scripture are very relevant to understanding Saul.

There are a couple of interesting things to learn here. First, the name ‘Kish’ (Strong’s H7027). It means “a bow” and is also the name of five Israelites. Its root word is ‘qosh’ (Strong’s H6983) which means “to bend” and also “to set a trap” or “lay a snare”. The word ‘qosh’ is spelled qof-yod-shin. The name ‘Kish’ also is spelled qof-yod-shin. The name is presented wrongly in English with a “K”. Properly, the name is “Qish” spelled with a ‘Q’.

Right away in this very first verse of Saul’s account, Samuel was telling Israel what YHVH had planned. Saul was a trap. Like father, like son. YHVH laid this trap for Israel for rejecting Him as King over them. The coming son of perdition is also a trap for those who reject YHVH’s authority and rightful Kingship.

And how do Israelites, believers and others, reject Him? Some reject that He is Israel’s Messiah, Savior, Redeemer, God and King. That’s the Jews. Others reject that His Kingdom is a government; not a religion. To them, the Kingdom is philosophy of “love”, not of love defined in the Law of the Kingdom but defined in Church regulations and demonstrated through personal feelings rather than through YHVH’s justice system. This adds to and subtracts from the Law of YHVH aka the Law of Moses.  

Why does YHVH need to tell us that Qish was “the son of A [nameless] Benjamite”? Let’s investigate. Only 14 times out of 1166 instances in scripture is the phrase, the “son of A”, is used to describe any other Israelite male. There is a reason for that. Here are the instances where scripture uses this phrase: There is the son of a Canaanite woman (Gen_46:10, Exo_6:15), the son of a prostitute (Jephthah (Jdg_11:1)), a son of a perverse rebellious woman (1 Samuel_20:30), the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite (2Sa_1:13), the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite (2Sa_17:25), the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel (2Sa_23:20, 1Ch_11:22), the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali (1Ki_7:14), the son of a murderer (2Ki_6:32), the son of a Hachmonite (1Ch_11:11), the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan (2Ch_2:14), and then Timothy, the son of a Jewess (Acts 16:1). Only 14 times.

The phrase “son of A”, rather than simply “son of”, tells us something about the reputation or origin of the parent. This is important for the reputation and origin of Saul’s father, ‘Qish’, because it explains Saul’s origins. Qish was a Benjamite descendant from one of those 600 Benjamite men who survived Israel’s first civil war in Judges 20 and 21, who is nameless in scripture and who was a mighty man of valor. Benjamin had lost over 50,000 warriors in that civil war. The 600 Benjamite men survived because they hid in a cave (Judges 20:47).

None of the women and children survived it, remember? Qish’s mother was one of the Israelite maidens from another tribe who danced at Sukkot among the vineyards. So Saul was from a line within a tribe of Israelites that almost were wiped out because of their sin. YHVH wants us to understand the line of succession, the connection between Saul’s violence, and his ancestral violent and rebellious heritage. Knowing Saul’s origins will later help explain why he just couldn’t obey YHVH in some things.

While Saul is a type and shadow of the son of perdition, I am not saying the son of perdition will be from Benjamin. The son of perdition will come from among the 4 tribes of Israel collectively known as Jews. The tribe of Benjamin being one of those tribes. However, the son of perdition will come from the line of Solomon. So I don’t want you to think I am saying the son of perdition will come from Benjamin.

Why did YHVH choose a Benjamite survivor of a “holocaust” brought to his tribe by the other Israelite tribes to be Israel’s first King? I used the word “holocaust” because, even though the word has to do with burning and the smoke of Hitler’s ovens rising up to Heaven, the word has come to be used as a synonym for genocide. The coming son of perdition will arise out of Hitler’s genocidal ashes, which is the 1948 UN-created modern STATE of Israel (not to be confused with YHVH’s Biblical Israel) just as Saul from the tribe of Benjamin had risen from near complete genocide.

Another reason YHVH chose a man from the tribe of Benjamin is because Benjamin and Joseph shared the same mother, Rachel. Joseph’s son’s tribe, Ephraim (who was chosen by Jacob to take Joseph’s firstborn place over Israel), had failed miserably at leading the nation yet it had been Jacob’s desire for Israel’s leader to come from his beloved Rachel, not from Leah. Her sons were rebels which Jacob did not want. The next son of Rachel was Benjamin who was Jacob’s faithful, loving and only son after Joseph was, ostensibly, killed by a wild beast. The lesson for us parents is to know that our children often do not follow in our footsteps. Such was the case with the tribe of Benjamin.

Benjamin was next in line after Ephraim, Joseph’s son, failed. And so to Benjamin goes the Kingship.

1 Samuel 9:2 He [Kish] had a son, whose name was Saul, an impressive young man; and there was not among the children of Israel a better person than he. From his shoulders and upward he was taller than any of the people.

I won’t go into the meaning of Saul’s name until the next teaching. When we get there, you will see that is for an important reason. So let’s start with this. It has to do with the revealing of the son of perdition.

2 Thessalonians 2:3  Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction, 
2 Thessalonians 2:4  he who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God. 
2 Thessalonians 2:8  Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming…

This verse is where Samuel revealed Saul to this story. Samuel said Saul was revealed to him in verse 15.

1Sa 9:15  Now Yahweh had revealed to Samuel a day before Saul came…

Verse 2 also says Saul was an impressive young man.

Oh, don’t people want to be impressed! Don’t we love what our eyes see which fulfill our preconceived notions? YHVH knew the preconceived notions of the Israelites of what a King of Israel should look like. First impressions and what the eyes see informed their perspective. This is not discernment. It is the fulfillment of desire. The Israelites wanted a human king so YHVH gave them the most impressive one in Israel who came from the wicked tribe of Benjamin. The people probably interpreted this as YHVH’s redemption, forgiveness, and so forth but it wasn’t. It was His message about what they were going to get from their very impressive-looking new king! Tall. Good looking. One whose height would make him commanding on the battlefield. Indeed, Israel’s second king was just what YHVH ordered!

1 Samuel 9:2 further says, “and there was not among the children of Israel a better person than he”. A better person.

Saul was the best among the Israelites. He was a person who was just as good as any man could be, according to Israel’s perverted definition of what a “good person” was.

“Good” and “righteous” are not the same things. A person can be “good” but quite unrighteous. A “righteous” person can sometimes appear to be “not good” when viewed through the perverted lense of sins. The prophets had the problem of actually being righteous but viewed by the people as “not good”. That’s why the Israelites killed their prophets. They didn’t meet the expectations or the preconceived notions of the leaders nor were the messages YHVH sent to Israel’s Kings pleasing.

We just learned about the attributes of the coming son of perdition which Saul, at this moment in this verse, embodies: Handsome and seemingly among the best of all Israelites. Saul came modestly, unassuming, even bashful which can be taken as humility, as we shall see in 1 Samuel 10:22 when he hid himself from his new role by comically hiding in the baggage. Don’t let the son of perdition’s demeanor lure you in. Remember, he will mimic Yeshua’s gentleness, quietness and humility which will fool many.

Now let’s look at the asses of Qish.

1 Samuel 9:3 The asses of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. Kish said to Saul his son, “Take now one of the servants with you, and arise, go look for the asses.”

Bible translations use either ass or donkey. The word “ass” is used as a slur, a colloquialism, in today’s culture. But because the word “ass” carries a certain negative significance with it, which people will understand more than the use of the word “donkey”, I will use the word “ass”. We just don’t deal with donkeys anymore. The lack of practical experience with donkeys, and the fact that cartoons portray now donkeys in a considerably different and appealing light (which is against a donkey’s true nature), is the reason I will continue using the word “ass”. You’ll get the point better.

Searching for his father’s asses, donkeys, was how YHVH set it up for Saul to meet Samuel. There are hidden meanings in this search by Saul to find his father’s wandering asses. There are 2 words for asses or donkeys in Hebrew – ‘athon’ (H860) and ‘chamor’ (Strong’s H2543). ‘Athon’ is a female ass and ‘chamor’ is a male ass. Kish’s asses were ‘athon’, female. This is both a prophecy and YHVH’s assessment of Israel.  

First, these she-asses were out wandering who knows where and who knows what trouble they were getting to. This describes Israel, YHVH’s woman, his wife which he had married at Mount Sinai. Israel, like these asses, were always wandering away from YHVH just like they had wandered away from Qish.

Second, asses are unclean animals, and notoriously stiff-necked and uncooperative. The metaphor here has to do with what YHVH thought of Israel: an unclean, uncooperative female ass!

Have you ever wondered why asses had to be redeemed?

Exodus 13:13  And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem. – KJV

Exodus 34:20  But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty. -KJV

Asses symbolized unredeemed Israel. The lesson is if the people are not redeemed, then their neck, which was stiff and uncooperative, must be broken. All people will either cooperate and be redeemed by the lamb or YHVH will break their neck, the very neck that refused His authority over them as asses are with their owners, so often refusing to even “go”! We have so often seen how owners can pull and pull on the rope but the ass won’t go! That’s Israel! Therefore, the person who is like an ass to YHVH must have his or her neck broken.

Breaking the neck was not a sacrifice because asses are unclean animals. The other time an animal was to have its neck broken was the heifer in Deuteronomy 21:4 which occured when a slain body was found in a field near a city. The word for breaking the neck is ‘araph’, Strong’s H6202. It means to bend the neck downward and to behead. So breaking the neck is a euphemism for decapitation.

The people who call themselves by YHVH’s Name today are just like the people who rejected YHVH as their King. They reject that He as the right and authority to rule over them; the give them laws that create order and dispel chaos and confusion in His nation. They reject that He as the right and authority to set the rules of engagement with Him – how we approach and how worship Him. And they reject that He has the right and authority to legislate how we behave to each other. They reject that He has the right and authority to define “love” in terms of loyalty and not feelings, intuitions or our emotions. 

YHVH’s voice speaks His character to us through His Law. The Torah teaches us what kind of Elohim we serve. He is our role model. We are to conform to His image. His Law is designed to help us do that. By us doing what He is, we become like Him. How else can people be conformed to YHVH’s image if not by doing what He does and following His instructions found in His Law?

We must stop being asses going off wandering around after other doctrines, other sets of rules and regulations which have no profit in them at all.

Samuel packed so much prophetic information in just 3 verses that we need to stop now to take it all in. It is from these first 3 verses that we can determine that Saul is a type and shadow of the son of perdition. Remember, the Father always shows us the end from the beginning. This new situation in Israel was the beginning of a new pattern and YHVH wanted to teach us something from it.

There will be more to learn about why Saul is the type and shadow of the son of perdition in the next teaching when we get there. I wanted to keep these short so you can ruminate on it to help you avoid falling into the coming trap, the “qosh”, from which Qish was named.

Just let me ask one more question? Who is the father of the son of perdition? It is he who has set the trap for all mankind! I will this teaching here and continue next time.