55 – Israel’s New King: Saul, The Embodiment Of The Son Of Perdition– Part 2

FULL MEETING WITH MIDRASH HERE

NOTE: THE TRANSCRIPT IS NOT EXACTLY LIKE THE RECORDING.

The account of Saul as the son of perdition has some hidden gems in it for those who will go through the end times Tribulation. These gems are encouragement for us as we endure and they lead us all the way to YHVH’s wilderness where He will gather us.

1 Samuel 9:4 He passed through the hill country of Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they didn’t find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and there they weren’t there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they didn’t find them. 

I won’t start with Saul passing through the hill country of Ephraim because that will be visited later on.   

The word ‘Shalishah’ (Strong’s H8031), which comes from the Hebrew root ‘shalash’ [H8027]. It has prophetic implications for the Tribulation. 

H8027
שׁלשׁ
shâlash
shaw-lash’

A primitive root perhaps originally [meaning] to intensify, that is, treble; triplicate [as] in portions, strands, days or years): – to do the third time, (divide into, stay) three (days, -fold, parts, years old).

“Treble” is a Latin term for “threefold” meaning a multiplier of 3. ‘Shalash’ explains for us our time of endurance during the Tribulation when the son of perdition is coming after us. Pharaoh of Egypt is a type of son of perdition. He would rather have killed all Israel than to let them go! So, let’s look at the plagues of Egypt for a minute because that will show us what ‘shalash’, the “tripling of our trouble” has to do with YHVH’s Biblical Israelites escaping Pharaoh.

Exodus 8:20  Yahweh said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he comes out to the water; and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh says, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 

Exodus 8:21  Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.
Exodus 8:22  I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end you may know that I am Yahweh on the earth.
Exodus 8:23  I will put a division between my people and your people: by tomorrow shall this sign be.”’” 

YHVH only let ancient Israel suffer through 3 of Egypt’s plagues before He separated Israel from Egypt in Goshen, His set apart place for Israel’s protection. There will be a “Goshen” to protect YHVH’s people during the Tribulation. It will not be the same place in Egypt, though. The protected place in the end of days will serve 2 purposes: protecting and restoring. The wilderness spoken of my Ezekiel and Daniel will be that place because that is where Israel failed miserably, so that is the place we must return to in order to not fail, in order to be restored. We will return to the scene of our ancestors’ crimes.

Protecting His people is a promise YHVH made to the Church of Philadelphia.

Revelation 3:7  “To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write: “He who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says these things:
Revelation 3:8  “I know your works (behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut), that you have a little power, and kept my word, and didn’t deny my name.

The open door is the guarantee that you will arrive at the end times “Goshen”, the place of safety, the wilderness, which will be in territories of Edom and Moab in Jordan.

Revelation 3:9  Behold, I give some of the synagogue of Satan, of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.

Those of the synagogue of Satan are the end times Jewish rulers who will kill the followers of Yeshua. But those in the Philadelphia Church they cannot touch. Those in the Smyrna Church are destined for martyrdom for the Kingdom of Yeshua.

Revelation 3:10  Because you kept my command to endure, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, which is to come on the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

The hour of testing is an idiom for the Tribulation which has seven seals, seven plagues, seven bowls, seven trumpets and 3 woes. This totals 31 instances of punishment; 3 times more than what Israel suffered in Egypt with the 10 plagues.

YHVH’s Philadelphia Church will not go through all 31 of those punishments but He is not specific which of these we will have to endure. Will we endure through a sequence of 1 seal, 1 plague, 1 bowl and 1 trumpet? Will we endure through the 3 woes? We don’t know because, at least, I don’t know the order in which these events will come. Some say Revelation is chronological as in all the seals will be broken, then the plagues will come and then the bowls and then the trumpets.

Others say there is a rotation of a seal, plague, a bowl, a trumpet, and then a repeat of that. I don’t know and YHVH has not told me. We already see elements of the first 5 seals happening now, but is that all there is to these seals? We don’t really know. However, He says we will endure however much of that which we must, and because we do, He will keep us from the worst of what is coming on the world by being in His set apart place in the wilderness where we can then prepare ourselves repent for our forefathers and obtain restoration.

I want to make it clear that the wilderness is not in heaven but on the earth, in the territories of Edom and Moab and that is because there is no rapture. You can read about that in Ezekiel 20:30-38 and Daniel 11:40-45.

Let’s read Ezekiel to become clear in our mind what YHVH’s plan is. He wants us to know He has a plan. It’s just not the plan of John Darby and Cyrus Schofield.  

Ezekiel 20:33  As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, I will be king over you.
Ezekiel 20:34  I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out.
Ezekiel 20:35  I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.
Ezekiel 20:36  Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you,” says the Lord Yahweh.
Ezekiel 20:37  “I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
Ezekiel 20:38  I will purge out from among you the rebels and those who disobey me. I will bring them out of the land where they live, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”

Ezekiel tells about the wilderness and what will happen there – OUR judgement! Yes, everyone must be judged, must go under YHVH’s rod. Some will make it and some won’t. The righteous will, the rebellious won’t.

Can you even believe that in the gathering place there will be people who remain defiant against YHVH’s will? They will defy His commandments. They will complain. They will have problems with others which they refuse to forgive. In all the ways there are to rebel, there will be rebels in the wilderness. And like the first generation that did not get to enter the Kingdom, neither will these rebels.

And now Daniel:

Dan 11:40  “At the time of the end the king of the south will contend with him; and the king of the north will come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, with horsemen, and with many ships. He will enter into the countries, and will overflow and pass through.
Dan 11:41  He will enter also into the glorious land, and many countries will be overthrown; but these will be delivered out of his hand: Edom, Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
Dan 11:42  He will also stretch out his hand on the countries. The land of Egypt won’t escape.
Dan 11:43  But he will have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt. The Libyans and the Ethiopians will be at his steps.

Ezekiel tells us there is a wilderness of the people and what will happen there. Daniel tells us where it is. YHVH’s repeating patterns also tell us where it is because it is the same place where He took His first generation of Israelites. YHVH doesn’t do new things. He uses repeating patterns so we can know what to expect.

Here is our exhortation for when the son of perdition comes looking for us:

Revelation 3:11  I am coming quickly! Hold firmly that which you have, so that no one takes your crown.
Revelation 3:12  He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out from there no more. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name.
Revelation 3:13  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.

The word ‘shalash’ is related to the son of perdition and the Tribulation because it triples what happened in Egypt, but we must only endure through the first part of the trouble before being gathered in the wilderness. 

Now let’s look at ‘Shaalim’.

1 Samuel 9:4 “…Then they passed through the land of Shaalim”.

This word describes Saul’s and the son of perdition’s character. This is Strong’s H8171. It is the name of another place where Saul went looking for Qish’s asses. ‘Shaalim’ also means “foxes”.

H8171
שׁעלים
sha‛ălı̂ym
shah-al-eem’

Plural of H7776; foxes; Shaalim, a place in Palestine: – Shalim.

The root of ‘Shaalim’ is ‘shual’.

H7776
שׁעל    שׁוּעל
shû‛âl  shû‛âl
shoo-awl’, shoo-awl’

From the same as H8168; a jackal (as a burrower): – fox.

Samuel was able to give us a clue about Saul’s character by citing ‘Shaalim’ as one of the places where he looked for the asses. Samuel could have cited many other places because, you know, Saul and his servant traveled through many places. So why did Samuel choose to tell us about ‘Shaalim’? Because he was giving Israel a clue about their new King.

Here is Saul’s name, Shaul, in Hebrew.

H7586
שׁאוּל
shâ’ûl
shaw-ool’

Passive participle of H7592; asked; Shaul, the name of an Edomite and two Israelites: – Saul, Shaul.

See? Shual’ is a play on ‘Shaul’s’, or Saul’s, name. Saul looked good on the outside but he was a fox and a jackal on the inside! Israel’s new end times king, the son of perdition, will be the same. Samuel was clever but so must we be to see what he was saying about Saul, and because Samuel was giving us clues about Saul (who is a type and shadow of the son of perdition), we are also getting clues about the character of the end times son of perdition.

1 Samuel 9:5 When they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come! Let’s return, lest my father stop caring about the donkeys, and be anxious for us.”

Saul’s servant will be the son of perdition’s false prophet, the one who helps him find the “asses of Israel”, the still stiff-necked people of YHVH, in the end of days. The false prophet will serve the son of perdition’s interests just as this servant served Saul’s.

Let’s turn our attention to the Hebrew word, ‘Zuph’.

H6689
ציף    צופי    צוּףo
tsûph  tsôphay  tsı̂yph
tsoof, tso-fah’ee, tseef

From H6688; honey comb; Tsuph or Tsophai or Tsiph, the name of an Israelite and a place in Palestine: – Zophai, Zuph.

‘Zuph’ is descriptive of the “land of milk and honey”, the final destination of YHVH’s people. It is also associated with the Torah that tastes like honey.

Psalms 19:9  The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever. Yahweh’s ordinances are true, and righteous altogether.
Psalms 19:10  More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the extract of the honeycomb. 

Psalms 119:97  MEM How I love your law! It is my meditation all day.
Psalms 119:98  Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for your commandments are always with me.
Psalms 119:99  I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.
Psalms 119:100  I understand more than the aged, because I have kept your precepts.
Psalms 119:101  I have kept my feet from every evil way, that I might observe your word.
Psalms 119:102  I have not turned away from your ordinances, for you have taught me.
Psalms 119:103  How sweet are your promises to my taste, more than honey to my mouth!
Psalms 119:104  Through your precepts, I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. 

Ezekiel 3:3  He said to me, “Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill your bowels with this scroll that I give you.” Then I ate it; and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. 

The world thinks the Torah has a bitter taste but, to those who love the commandments, it is sweet and full of promises.

The Law of YHVH is not an acquired taste; it is a taste that is provided to us when we are filled with YHVH’s Holy Spirit. We LOVE the Law of YHVH (Psalms 119:97, Psalms 119:113, Psalms 119:163, Psalms 119:165); we meditate upon it day and night (Joshua 1:8, Psalms 1:2); His Law lights our path so we don’t stumble (Proverbs 6:23 ). YHVH’s Law is sweet! But to the world, it is bitter.

In the end of days, as we draw closer to that time, we are seeing more people – both Christians and Jews – returning to YHVH’s ways, leaving behind their religions to do only what YHVH says in His commandments. It is these people who will either be martyred or gathered. These are YHVH’s witnesses, as well, spreading the gospel and inviting others to repent and return to YHVH.  

There is something else about Zuph. It is interesting that this was a place in Palestine. Right now, the issue of Palestine is coming to a head, and this issue, what to do with the Palestinians, pertains to Ephraim. Zuph was located in the hill country of Ephraim, today’s West Bank, near the border of Benjamin and Samuel’s home town of Ramathaim-Zophim (1 Samuel 1:1) was located in this area called Zuph. That Samuel was YHVH’s prophet during the time of Saul means Zuph will help us in our understanding of the son of perdition.

What does Zuph help us to understand, then? Saul did not find Qish’s asses Ephraim’s territory. Why? It’s a prophecy. At some point, the son of perdition won’t find an asses of YHVH, either. Why is this so? Jeremiah explains it.

Jeremiah 31:1  “At that time,” says Yahweh, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”
Jeremiah 31:2  Yahweh says, “The people who survive the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.” 

Here’s the wilderness again. YHVH’s Philadelphia Church will find favor there. They will escape the sword of the son of perdition. Notice that it is these people who are called Israel. There will still be the modern UN-created STATE of Israel, but those people are not Israel unless they have given their hearts to Yeshua. It will be when all of YHVH’s remnant that believe in Yeshua are gathered in the wilderness that we will be “Israel”! This is HIS Israel; Biblical Israel!

Here is more of what YHVH will say to Israel:

Jeremiah 31:3  Yahweh appeared of old to me, saying, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.
Jeremiah 31:4  I will build you again, and you will be built, O virgin of Israel. You will again be adorned with your tambourines, and will go out in the dances of those who make merry. 

The 144,000 are “virgins”, an attribute given to them because they keep the commandments and have the testimony of Yeshua. The parable of the virgins plays into this. There are 10 virgins in this parable, a minion of virgins. All will know the bridegroom is coming but half of them will not be ready. These will be the rebels in the wilderness who have not prepared their hearts to say “yes” to every condition of the renewed covenant which will be renewed in the wilderness before we cross into the promised land.

Jeremiah 31:5  Again you will plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria. The planters will plant, and will enjoy its fruit. 

There will be no more Palestinian issue.

Jeremiah 31:6  For there will be a day that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim cry, ‘Arise! Let’s go up to Zion to Yahweh our God.’” 

Now, Ephraim will be anxious to worship YHVH alone! No more other gods! Zuph was in Ephraim’s territory, as you know, and Zuph had 2 watchtowers! From there, the watchmen will cry, “‘Arise! Let’s go up to Zion to Yahweh our God.’” 

Jeremiah 31:7  For Yahweh says, “Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations. Publish, praise, and say, ‘Yahweh, save your people, the remnant of Israel!’ 

It will be a remnant which will be saved in the end of days. Israel is only a remnant, folks. She has always been the least of the nations. They were all cut from a cloth, the same cloth. But Israel is what was left over that no one wanted, not even the ancient Israelites! But the end times Israelites, small though her population will be, will be faithful and true and will rule and reign with Yeshua from Zion, Jerusalem!

Jeremiah 31:8  Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, along with the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who travails with child together. They will return as a great company. 

Here is what YHVH says about the uttermost parts of the earth:

Deuteronomy 30:1  It shall happen, when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations, where Yahweh your God has driven you,
Deuteronomy 30:2  and return to Yahweh your God, and obey his voice according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart, and with all your soul;
Deuteronomy 30:3  that then Yahweh your God will release you from captivity, have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples where Yahweh your God has scattered you.
Deuteronomy 30:4  If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heavens, from there Yahweh your God will gather you, and from there he will bring you back. 

It won’t matter how geographically distant you are. He will gather you! He won’t rapture you. He will gather you!

Deuteronomy 30:5  Yahweh your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you will possess it. He will do you good, and increase your numbers more than your fathers. 

YHVH’s Israel might start small but she will become numerous in population like the stars of the heaven (Gen_15:5, Gen_22:17, Gen_26:4, Exo_32:13) and the sand of the sea (Genesis 22:17, Genesis 32:12, Jeremiah 33:22, Hosea 1:10 ) again!

Jeremiah 31:9  They will come with weeping. I will lead them with supplications. I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they won’t stumble; for I am a father to Israel. Ephraim is my firstborn. 

People want to know how they will know where to go when they flee. Jeremiah says they will be led with supplications. What a supplications? Earnest prayer! ‘Tachanun’ (Strong’s H8469). You will literally PRAY your way to the ingathering place!

Don’t we look forward to that time when YHVH’s people will no longer be stiff-necked asses for the son of perdition to seek, find and punish. We will see later in this chapter that the asses had returned to Saul’s father. The Ephraimites in the nations will have said, “Let us return to YHVH”. They will have the testimony of Yeshua so when the son of perdition comes looking for them, they will be YHVH’s people, not stiff-necked asses. And the Jews also will be returning, not as Jews any longer, but as people who possibly are from the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Simeon and Levi.

What blessed times lay ahead!