The rise of the saints, part 15

King David was a prophetic type of Christ, and his Kingdom was a type of Christ’s Kingdom. There is a little-known Bible story that prophesies according to the law of Impartiality as well as the law of equal weights and measures. When Absalom usurped David’s throne, many Israelites turned against David in support of Absalom (2 Samuel 15:6, 12).

David’s Loyal Bodyguards

David had a few loyal followers who were the “Special Forces” of the day. When David evacuated Jerusalem, they followed him. We read of them in 2 Samuel 15:18,

¹⁸ Now all his servants passed on beside him, all the Cherethites [“executioners,” i.e., royal guardsmen], all the Pelethites [“couriers”], and all the Gittites, six hundred men who had come with him from Gath, passed on before the king.

These functioned as David’s personal bodyguard and were his most trusted men. They included 600 Gittites from Gath, which was one of the cities of the Philistines. Why were they so loyal to David? Why did they love and respect him? Had not David defeated the Philistines many times in battle? Had he not killed Goliath, the Philistine giant who was from Gath (1 Samuel 17:4)?

I believe that these men loved David because he had set them free from the rule of the giants, the Nephilim who had oppressed them. More than that, David had later fled to Gath when Saul was trying to kill him (1 Samuel 21:10). David pretended to be insane in order to make himself appear harmless to the king of Gath (1 Samuel 21:13), but it appears that part of Achish of Gath lost 600 soldiers who deserted the Philistine army to follow David.

The biblical account is too brief and does not tell us how David secured their loyalty, but there can be no doubt that they trusted and loved him because he treated them with respect and surely explained to them the nature of the Impartial God. 1 John 4:19 says,

¹⁹ We love, because He first loved us.

If we love Jesus because He first loved us, then it stands to reason that the Gittites loved David for the same reason. David, after all, was a type of Christ. In those days, such love was highly unusual, and the Gittites must have marveled at David--and also at the impartiality of the Hebrew God.

From a prophetic standpoint, they prophesy of the Gentiles who were to become Christ’s loyal followers a thousand years later. So when they followed David in the evacuation of Jerusalem, we read in 2 Samuel 15:19-22,

¹⁹ Then the king [David] said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why will you also go with us? Return and remain with the [Philistine] king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile; return to your own place. ²⁰ You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander with us, while I go where I will? Return and take back your brothers, mercy and truth be with you.” ²¹ But Ittai answered the king and said, “As the Lord [Yahweh] lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely wherever my lord the king may be whether for death or for life, there also your servant will be. ²² Therefore David said to Ittai, “Go and pass over.” So Ittai the Gittite passed over with all his men and all the little ones who were with him.

We see here that these 600 Gittites had brought their families to live among the Israelites. Ittai’s oath of loyalty, “As Yahweh lives,” also tells us that he worshiped the God of Israel, not the gods of Gath. They were willing to “wander” with David and identify with the persecuted ones, even as the Gentiles later identified with the apostles who had gone into exile from Judea.

The Cosmos

The number 600 signifies the world, because the Greek word cosmos has a numeric value of 600. Cosmos means “orderly arrangement, world order,” and in the positive sense it speaks of God’s World Order. It also shows God’s concern for the whole world, “for God so loved the world” (John 3:16), which shows the thinking of our impartial God. Hence, the 600 Gittites speak prophetically of the world beyond the borders of Israel and Judah, especially of the believers among the Gentiles who are loyal to the Son of David when “His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11).

The New Testament Conflict

Of course, we know that when Absalom usurped the throne with the help of Ahithophel, David’s counselor and friend who betrayed him, the entire story was prophetic of the New Testament story that took place a thousand years later. There Jesus’ throne was usurped by Caiaphas with the help of Judas—Jesus’ friend who betrayed Him (Matthew 26:49, 50). The dispute over throne rights remained unresolved indefinitely, for we are not told how long David was in exile, nor did the New Testament tell us how long it would be until Jesus returned to claim His throne.

We only know that when David returned, Absalom was killed (2 Samuel 18:14). Absalom was not promoted to rule the kingdom. However, the Gittites, loyal to David during his time of persecution and exile, were honored in the kingdom. So also, the Jews, who rejected Jesus (John 1:11) and who followed Caiaphas, will not rule in Christ’s Kingdom. Only those spiritual warriors loyal to Jesus are “chosen” to rule.

Thus, the Impartial God of Israel treats all men by the law of equal weights and measures, not regarding their genealogy but rewarding faith and loyalty to Christ. This was foreshadowed by the story of David and Absalom.

Ahithophel and Judas

We read also in 2 Samuel 17:23 that Ahithophel hanged himself shortly after betraying David. Likewise, Judas hanged himself (Matthew 27:5). When we understand that Ahithophel’s actions prophesied of Judas in the New Testament and that these men represent all who would side with the Jews in the dispute over the right to rule the Kingdom, we can see how this prophecy is now leading to the final battle when Christ returns to fight against Absalom’s loyalists.

Absalom’s loyalists are not Gog and Magog, nor are they are Philistines (Palestinians), nor even Islamists. The enemies of Christ are the Jewish leaders themselves, who have convinced the Jews that Jesus is not the Christ. And in this dispute, there are friends of Jesus—believers in Christ—who support the Jewish leaders’ claim.

The main difference is that in the time of the second coming of Christ, the dispute has shifted from the scepter to the birthright. Christ came the first time through Judah, who had been given the scepter (Genesis 49:10); Christ comes the second time through Joseph, whose robe was dipped in blood, who was given the birthright (1 Chronicles 5:1, 2). For this reason also, Joseph’s sons were given the name Israel (Genesis 48:16), which was the name that the angel had given Jacob (Genesis 32:28). The name Israel goes with the birthright, not with the scepter.

In other words, who really has the legitimate claim to the title/name: Israel? That title goes with the birthright, and that is the main issue today that determines one’s loyalty to Jesus Christ. That is why it is important to know who Israel is. It is important to understand this issue by the law of Impartiality and by the law of equal weights and measures.

These laws are the basis of prophecy, and in the story of David, Absalom, and Ahithophel, we are shown that the Gittites are the loyal, true believers who inherit the Kingdom. The children of the flesh, though they may claim to be biological descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are cast out and disinherited.

The Saints

Daniel 7:22 tells us that in the end, after the time of the beasts has expired, the saints will be given the Kingdom. It is significant that the angel did not specify that any particular ethnic group would rule the Kingdom. The angel used a general term (KJV), “saints of the Most High.” While some have tried to interpret this term in a genealogical sense, the angel did not say that. When John interpreted this in Revelation 5:9, 10, this “new song” said,

⁹ And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals, for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. ¹⁰ You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

For this reason, in the time of the rise of the saints of the Most High, it is necessary to know the laws of the Kingdom and how to apply them according to the nature of God and the mind of Christ. I believe that this is why God revealed these laws and instructed us to place these “stones” in the wall of the New Jerusalem in 2012.

Without knowing these laws, how can a prospective ruler in the Kingdom keep from rebuilding “the dividing wall” that Christ abolished (Ephesians 2:14)? As long as men believe that some are chosen on account of their genealogy, they rebuild what Christ has torn down. They destroy the unity of the “one new man” of Christ (Ephesians 2:15). They create ethnic inequality within God’s household (Ephesians 2:19). Can a divided temple stand if enmity remains among its living stones?

The testimony of Ittai the Gittite stands as a witness of the truth of the divine law and its outworking in prophecy and in the divine plan for creation.

Likewise, when the law of Impartiality was put into its proper place on November 29, 2012, this prophetic act linked this law specifically to November 29, 1947, which was the day of the Palestinian Resolution leading to the creation of the Jewish state. To this day, the Jews do not acknowledge the law of Impartiality, nor do they understand the law of equal weights and measures.

Worse yet, most Christians have failed to study the law by the mind of Christ, so they too need proper instruction and revelation. God gave us personal revelation of the law for decades before finally moving upon us to make it a public proclamation by placing these two stones in the wall of the New Jerusalem.

In doing this, God made the church responsible to know these things. There is always greater accountability when the truth is available. Anyone truly seeking the truth will find it, for Jesus said in Matthew 7:7, 8,

⁷ Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it will be opened.