David lives in the shadow of death: Followers of Christ live in the shadow of death

1 Samuel 23:14-29

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

Click for related post about Rahab who helped rescue God’s people.

• Sheltering and laying low to avoid persecution is from the word of God.
• The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, is with us.
• Everywhere, Christians are hunted down to be extinguished.
• The masses intend to encircle and eliminate Christianity.
• Fighting global battles takes precedence over hunting Christians.

Sheltering and laying low to avoid persecution is from the word of God. “And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.” 1 Samuel 23:14

Saul cast a shadow of death over David as he constantly tracked him down with plans to kill him. In response, David stayed in protective places within the wilderness to avoid Saul’s persecution.

Today, we see the shadow of death looming over Christianity. We see the silent killer coming against the Gospel of Christ and Christianity as a whole. One sure sign is that the churches have tossed out the message of the Cross and no longer talk about the need for the remission of sin through Jesus. The values of the Bible are no longer in government lawmaking, the educational system has tossed out the teachings of the Bible, and Christianity is not welcomed in any sector of society. Society has become a very unfriendly and cold place for the followers of Jesus Christ.

The shadow of death looming over Christianity comes through the thing which forms the thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and words of the masses in every city around the world. It enables the image of the beast to speak and live through people as they openly and persistently come against Christianity. They deny the existence of God, discard the need for the Lord Jesus, and trample on the Holy Spirit. There is not a place of comfort nor refuge among them for Christians. As the masses of the “democratic” society allows the image of the beast to live and speak through them, they are conformed to their place in life by what they say and do. They are conformed to their mark in life as they are groomed to the mark of the beast.

The global government of the beast (United Nations) openly comes against the teachings of the Bible. They derive their power and authority through the masses in every city around the world. Those masses welcome the thing which forms what they think, feel, do and speak as they are the tidal wave carrying the agenda of the global government forward.

The picture of the Facebook post below is from the United Nations page, and they are urging people around the world to call-out Christians for believing the LGBQT+ lifestyle is sin. It is a call to openly confront Christians for their beliefs. Worldwide Christian persecution is here! They consider Christianity to be discriminatory, bigoted, and inhumane,

 Jesus said the day would come when we need to hide from trouble, affliction, and persecution, just like David hiding in the mountains from Saul, “So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” Mark 13:14

An abomination is an intense dislike and atrocity towards something, and this abomination makes the thing it dislikes desolate. The abomination that makes desolate is the intense dislike for God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Christians, and Christianity as a whole. We already see that shadow across our nation and around the world.

Today, there is a thing sitting in the temple of God, our body, where it should not be, and it is able to form what a person thinks, feels, does, and speaks as it desolates the Spirit of Christ “…it opposes and exalts itself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that it sits as God in the temple of God, showing itself that it is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:4 It enables the image of the beast to live and speak through people.

The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, is with us. “So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in a forest. Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God.” 1 Samuel 23:15-16 

Like David, the followers of Christ can see that this world intends to take the life of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Their purpose is to eliminate belief in God, silence the acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus Christ, scoff at the Holy Spirit, and afflict Christians and Christianity as a whole.

Believers are in a social wilderness created by those who welcome the thing which forms what they think, feel, and do as it enables the image of the beast to live and speak through them. As it lives and speaks through them, they are conformed to their place in life by what they say and do. They are conformed to their mark in life as they are groomed to the mark of the beast. They habitually mock God, run down Jesus Christ, trample on the Holy Spirit, and afflict Christians.

The masses of the “democratic” society despise those who follow the teachings of the Bible as affliction and persecution flow from what they say and do against Christians. Even so, the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, strengthens us in Jesus Christ as we live in this world’s unwelcoming wilderness.

Jesus Christ has sent us a Comforter during these mournful days,

I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Set them apart by Your truth. Your word is truth. 

But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 15:15-17 and 14:26-27

“And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that.” 1 Samuel 23:17 

Jesus Christ already has the victory over sin and death, which means this world is not a threat to Him and will never be able to defeat Him. God has made Jesus Christ the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords, and He is coming back in complete victory over this world. Because He lives, we will live eternally with Him and be by His side forever, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 Even Satan knows that.

After suffering ravishes this earth, it’s the day that Jesus Christ comes back, and He is crowned King, and we will reign with Him,

“And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Revelation 19:16

“So the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house.” 1 Samuel 23:18 

The covenant Jesus made with us is through the blood He shed on the Cross, and this is the covenant which Jesus Christ has made with us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

David stayed in the woods as protection against the persecution of Saul, and Jonathan returned to the safety of his own house. With Jesus Christ, we are set apart from the ways of this world. Jesus stays in the wilderness with us because He wants us to follow the Gospel of peace and not to put ourselves in harm’s way. Persecution and affliction pursue us, but the Holy Spirit causes us to respond with non-aggression. The Spirit of Christ leads us not into conflict and hostility against those who afflict us but leads us into the paths of peace.

I think of the Apostles who suffered persecution and was murdered for bringing the Gospel of Christ to the world. At the same time, the Apostles did all they could to protect the followers of Christ from suffering the same fate as themselves. They wanted their converts to be able to go back to their own house at the end of the day.

Just one example is seen in Acts 20 where Paul willingly puts his life at risk for those remaining in their homes. Paul truly possessed the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ,

“Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom  will ever see me again.  Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you.  For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.  Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.  Be shepherds of the Church of God, which He bought with His own blood.”

“After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.  Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”

When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 

Acts 20:25-28 and also Acts 21:10-12

Everywhere, Christians are hunted down to be extinguished.  “Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?” 1 Samuel 23:19 It was the people around David, when he was hiding, who reported his whereabouts to Saul. Saul was persecuting David and seeking to take his life.

Today, the people around us are the ones who play an active role in killing the Spirit of Christ within us. They are family members, coworkers, fellow students, neighbors, people in the grocery store, and everywhere in society. Their only purpose is to turn us over into the hands of the thing which forms what we think, feel, and do to enable the image of the beast to live and speak through people. But as we live for Jesus Christ, they blaspheme God, discard the need for Jesus Christ, and trample on the Holy Spirit. As people allow the image of the beast to live and speak through them, they are conformed to their place in life by what they say and do. It always involves the persecution of Christianity. They are conformed to their mark in life as they are groomed to the mark of the beast.

“Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.” 1 Samuel 23:20

The masses within the “democratic” society of today are all saying the same thing from city to city around the world, they are telling the thing which forms what they think, feel, do, and speak to do according to all of its desire. They make a covenant with it by saying they agree to deliver the followers of Jesus Christ, and all of Christianity into its hand. They willingly give their life to allow the image of the beast to live and speak through them by welcoming the thing which forms what they think, feel, and do. They are conformed to their place in life as they are groomed to the mark of the beast by what they say and do.

As Christians, we have entered into a covenant with God through Jesus Christ, that He lives in us by the Holy Spirit to do according to all of His desire. Our part is to share the Gospel of Christ to deliver souls into the hand of God by the remission of sin. This is the covenant God has made with us through Jesus Christ, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

The reason Christians are sought out for extinction is because we devote our body to be the home of the Holy Spirit, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ” 1 Corinthians 6:19 That is contrary to the thing who forms what we think, feel, and do which wants our body, the temple of God, to be under its authority, “…it opposes and exalts itself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that it sits as God in the temple of God, showing itself that it is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:4

 “And Saul said, “Blessed are you of the Lord, for you have compassion on me.” 1 Samuel 23:21 The followers of Christ are labeled as troublemakers who are cruel, uncaring, unloving, unsupportive, and a terror to the “democratic” society of the beast. It’s considered a compassionate behavior to protect “democracy” by rebuking Christianity.

Being blessed by the government of the beast means to have money, possessions, social approval, and physical comforts. Their “democratic” society are those who have, while those who reject their anti-Christian society are those who don’t have. The thing which has power over physiology endows the masses of the “democratic” society with uncanny knowledge, heightened intuition, extraordinary skills, authority, amazing physical feats, sensual pleasures, etc. In exchange, they deny God, discard the need for Jesus Christ, and trample on the Holy Spirit. They persecute the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

“Please go and find out for sure, and see the place where his hideout is, and who has seen him there. For I am told he is very crafty.” 1 Samuel 23:22 Christianity is painted as being dangerous and crafty “foxes” who need to be watched, spied out, and information gathered from their activities.

“See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides; and come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. And it shall be, if he is in the land, that I will search for him throughout all the clans of Judah.” 1 Samuel 23:23 The authorities who govern by the thing which forms thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and what we speak expect those who are part of their “democratic” society to produce evidence against Christianity. They want the masses in every city around the world to be part of keeping an eye on Christians with the intent of eliminating Christianity.

The masses intend to encircle and eliminate Christianity. “So they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon.” 1 Samuel 23:24 

Saul sent the Ziphities into Ziph to spy on the location and activity of David. Saul intended to kill David. However, David had moved from the wilderness of Ziph into the wilderness of Maon. Jesus Christ never, never, asks His followers to face “what they have coming to them” relating to abuse, hostility, persecution, bodily harm etc. He only asks that we remain faithful to God and hold to His testimony. We should never abandon Jesus Christ in the face of being in a world which hates and despises Christianity.

From city to city, those who hold to the teachings of the Bible are driven into a wilderness by the masses within the “democratic” social network. Those who welcome the thing which forms what they think, feel, do, and speak are allowing the image of the beast to live and speak through them. They will never allow Christians to be comfortable among them as they use their uncanny knowledge, heightened intuition, and behaviors to chase the followers of Christ away from them.

As the masses in the “democratic” society allow the image of the beast to live and speak through them, they are conformed to their place in life by what they say and do. They are conformed to their mark in life as they are groomed to the mark of the beast. In their midst, we never criticize them in an abusive or angrily insulting manner, but always, always hold to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”

Jude 1:9 and Luke 6:27-31

“When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore he went down to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon.” 1 Samuel 23:25 

The followers of Jesus Christ will always go down to the rock within the wilderness. The Rock is the Lord Jesus Christ and in Him we take refuge, we live in the Holy Spirit. Because we take refuge in Jesus Christ, those who live by the thing which forms what they do, say, think, and feel, will pursue us even more. Even today, we Christians hear the haunting sound of “There’s one!” In the Spirit of Christ we say, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18

A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
A wonderful Savior to me;
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
Where rivers of pleasure I see.

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
That shadows a dry, thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love,
And covers me there with His hand,
And covers me there with His hand.
(Church Hymn)

 “Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were encircling David and his men to take them.” 1 Samuel 23:26 

There is a deep divide the size of a mountain between those who live for Jesus Christ and those who live for the thing which forms what they think, feel, do, and speak. As followers of Jesus Christ, we dedicate our body to be the home of the Holy Spirit, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:19 The thing which forms what people think, feel, do, and say wants to have authority over the temple, our body, “…it opposes and exalts itself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that it sits as God in the temple of God, showing itself that it is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:4

Cities around the world are dominated by those who allow their body to be the home of the image of the beast, which lives and speaks through them by the thing which forms their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. They consider themselves to be a democratic society while referring to Christianity as being undemocratic, bigoted, inhumane, unloving, etc. They deny God, discard the need for Jesus Christ, and trample on the Holy Spirit as they easily surround, with hostility, the faithful few Christians in the world.

Then it opened its mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given it over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship it, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 13:6-8

Fighting global battles takes precedence over hunting Christians. “But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!” 1 Samuel 23:27 

Saul gathered his army to pursue David in the wilderness to kill him. However, in the process a message was sent to Saul that an army had invaded his kingdom. Saul had to set his priority of whether it was more important to kill David or to turn around and fight against the invaders of his territory.

Today, there is a push to kill the Spirit of Christ in this world and to eliminate the presence of Christianity. As the days progress towards the global tribulation, the world will be filled with all sorts of violence, armed rebels, and powerful military opposition. The tumult eventually leads to the Battle Armageddon. It will be a matter of setting priorities of whether the global government of the beast wants to continue pursuing Christianity or to address the direct threat of weaponized violence in the world.

The irony is that during the periods when the global government of the beast has relative peace from military conflict in the world, the target becomes those who live by the teachings of the Bible. Peace for the global government means affliction, hardships, persecution, suffering, and death for Christians.

Unfortunately for the global government, their time on earth is plagued with tumult, on top of global warming (Revelation 16:8-9), the black-out of their power center of the beast (Revelation 16:10-11), and the Battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:12-16). Through all of the turmoil on this earth, there will always be a faithful few who are able to hold to the testimony of Jesus.

Jeus Christ constantly tells us to follow His Gospel of peace and refrain from physical rebellion against government authority. When it comes right down to it, government authorities set their priorities to put down the actual presence of violence in the world. Those who live by the Spirit of Christ are not an actual physical threat to any governing authority. Jesus Christ did not come to destroy but to save, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

Those who live by the thing which forms what they think, feel, do, and speak do not want people to live in the Spirit of Christ. Their purpose is to attack Christians by blaspheming the Holy Spirit, discarding the need for Jesus Christ, and denying God. They allow the image of the beast to live and speak through them as everything they do and say is designed to destroy the Gospel of peace. As it lives and speaks through them, they are conformed to their place in life by what they say and do. They are conformed to their mark in life as they are groomed to the mark of the beast. As Christians living among them, we respond with peace to their affliction.

Without the Spirit of Christ, there is constant conflict in the world. Family members come against one another, neighbors against one another, students against one another, co-workers against one another, and nations against one another. In the Spirit of Christ, we come apart from what is going on in the world and we do all we can to live peaceably with all people.

 “Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called that place the Rock of Escape. Then David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at En Gedi.” 1 Samuel 23:28-29

The global government of the beast will set their priorities to put down actual armed rebellion than to waste time and resources pursuing peaceful Christians. The “Rock of Escape” is the Lord Jesus Christ who gives us the Holy Spirit who gives us peace. He gives us a solid internal peace in the spirit, not like the fragile peace of this world.

Jesus Christ is our Rock in many forms, and each of those forms represent the Holy Spirit living in us by the remission of sin. He enables us to walk in Holiness in very difficult circumstances.

• Jesus Christ is the Rock of our Escape.
• Jesus is the Rock of our Salvation,
  “He shall cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’” Psalms 89:26
• Jesus is the Cleft of the Rock in whom we take refuge,
  “So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by.” Exodus 33:22
• Jesus is the Rock that provides the sweet honey of the Holy Spirit,
  “He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you.” Psalms 81:16
• Jesus is the Rock of the Water of Life, who was crucified so that we could drink,
  “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Exodus 17:6

A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
A wonderful Savior to me;
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
Where rivers of pleasure I see.

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
That shadows a dry, thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love,
And covers me there with His hand,
And covers me there with His hand.

---

“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1