The Saul - David Transition Pt 1
by David Orton
Part 1 of 3
“But he removed Saul and made David their king…”
The transition from Saul to David typically foreshadows a revolution occurring in the church right now.
Many across the western church, including market researchers such as George Barna, are now recognising on empirical grounds (through measuring trends) that a revolution is occurring. Barna forecasts that over the next two decades the 70% of Christians who currently attend traditional church will reduce to 30% – and the 30% currently outside of it will increase to 70%!
But what is the cause of this massive shift and where is it heading? Is it just a phenomenon of human reaction to institutional inertia, or is there something far more fundamental: something not only institutionally subversive, but something of God – something cosmically invasive, and even eschatological?
In this three part series I will show that David typifies the new order of the kingdom, involving revolutionary transitions in six areas: paradigm, heart, purpose, structure, leadership, and principle.
In the final part I will discuss the strategy and timing of the Saul-David transition.
The New Order of the Kingdom
The Scriptures present four representative men to whom we relate: Adam (racially), Abraham (redemptively), Moses (corporately), and David (regally). If we are desirous of a greater understanding of the emerging kingdom David provides its typical representation with Christ, the son of David, as the anti-type. David’s life, therefore, becomes a lesson for the increase of the kingdom.
David was the beginning of a new order. He was the eighth son of Jesse, eight being the number of new beginnings (see 1 Sam 16:1-13). In music the eighth note is the first note of a new octave. With the coming of Christ a new sound is being heard in the earth. God in Christ has invaded history to inaugurate a new order. As the ‘son of David’ Jesus is the ‘last Adam’ and the ‘second man’ (see 1 Cor 15:45-47). He is the terminal point of the old and the beginning of the new – he is both alpha and omega.
As the representative man he makes “all things new” (Rev 21:5). By truly becoming man (the last Adam) he suffered the passion, submitting to the death of the cross, to be powerfully raised in that same humanity (the second man) breaking once and for all the power of death and seated at the right hand of the Father. As the divine Son having perfected humanity through the suffering of obedience he now governs and fills the universe as the God-man. (see Eph 4:10; Heb 2:10-11). Through his death “old things have passed away” and by his life “all things have been made new” (2 Cor 5:17). By faith the believer is placed into Christ – into his death, resurrection, and ascension glory (see Rom 6:3-10; Col 2:12-13; 3:1-4; Eph 1:3, 4, 7, 13, 20; 2:4-10). All that is Christ’s in actuality is now the believer’s in potentiality, contingent only upon faith-obedience.
While recognising the many interpretations of the book of Revelation, the fact remains the kingdom has come definitively, is coming progressively, and will come consumatively. Therefore,, “the tabernacle of God is with men” (Rev 21:3) – the new heavens and the new earth, the new creation, has already come! The new order of the kingdom was inaugurated when Christ ascended to the right hand of the majesty on high, the Father declaring to him, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet” (see Heb 1:3, 13; Acts 2:31-35; Mtt 22:41-46; Psa 110:1). He then poured out the promise of the Father, the Spirit, on the day of Pentecost. Therefore, that day and every subsequent visitation of the Spirit is nothing less than the coming of the kingdom to earth as the enemies of Christ are progressively made the footstool of his feet until the final consummation when Christ returns for a virgin Bride and a world filled with the knowledge of his glory.
And so, now in his ascended glory he is filling the universe, but not on his own.
Seated at the Father’s right hand,
God has put everything under his feet and has made him the head over all things to the church,
which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills everything in every way. Eph 1:22-23
Now, through the church, which is his body, he is filling “everything in every way”. Through the church, the corporate expression of the new order, he is making known to principalities and powers the manifold wisdom of God (see Eph 3:10; Col 2:15). The new order is nothing less than a cosmic invasion of a new humanity conformed to the image of Christ.
This brings us to the first of our six transitions:
Paradigm-shift
Right now God is fussing with our ecclesiology – our concepts of the church. We have viewed the church through our particular theological or denominational lens, unwittingly investing the term with extra-biblical meaning. Consequently the word triggers for many less than positive memories and emotions. At best it conveys a somewhat institutional concept. It is therefore time to recover the biblical content of this term and therefore the reality of what the church is – “his body”. Tragically we have produced Sunday events and religious structures, including Pentecostal ones, which call themselves “church” but can be as devoid of the presence of God as the local supermarket. We may fill them with excellent management and musical skills, the latest choruses, and the best technology, we might even experience stirring religious emotions in our services but without the presence of God and the freedom of the Spirit we are functionally disconnected from the head. Our appearance of Pentecostal/Evangelical orthodoxy is increasingly belied by the absence of God’s presence. In fact, we have become expert at conjuring an atmosphere that we mistakenly take to be God’s presence!
It is therefore time to issue a call to the church of the western nations to return to the Lord and to his presence. Without his manifest presence governing our gatherings and councils we are merely another corporation or club. When the Holy Spirit is both residing and presiding in Christ’s body our fractured humanity is healed and we are conformed to his image. Our union with him in the Spirit imparts to us his nature. His perfected humanity becomes ours as he “brings many sons to glory” (see Heb 2:10). He is not alone in his perfection – “For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all of one” (Heb 2:11). It is inclusive of all those who in Christ have received and yielded to the inner work of the Spirit – this alone defines the church.
The church, his body, is where he dwells. We are mistaken to define the church by any other criteria. Doing so creates idolatries of doctrine, structure, ministry, or men. This is not to say these things may not be helpful, but they are merely the means not the end. The Father who put all things in subjection to Christ and his body is the one who “fills all in all” (see Eph 1:23); for “from him, through him, and to him are all things” (Rom 11:36). It is all about him – this is the ultimate corrective.
In summary, our paradigm of the church is shifting from structure to spirit, from institutional to communal, from programmatic to charismatic; and therefore from activity to adoration. All the while God has been longing for a ‘resting place’ for his presence we have been busy making his house a ‘working place’. Even prayer meetings have been possessed by our so called “protestant work ethic”. We have forgotten how to wait on the Lord, sending him instead on incessant errands – “Lord go heal this, bless that, and protect the other thing”. Perhaps the final paradigm shift will be from petition to contemplation.
In contrast to Saul, on coming to the throne David’s first priority was the ark of God’s presence. As he said, “…we did not inquire of it during the reign of Saul” (1 Chr 13:3b). Saul had no concern for the presence, but David vowed,
Surely I will not enter my house, nor lie on my bed;
I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids,
Until I find a place for the LORD, A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.
The church as the ‘corporate anointed’ (the body of Christ) is all about being a dwelling place for the presence of God!
Heart-shift
The reason for God replacing Saul with David was the heart:
And when He had removed him, He raised up David to them to be their king; to whom He also witnessed and said, I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after My own heart, who shall fulfill all My will. Act 13:22 MKJV
Jesus made it very clear that it was from the heart that evil proceeds and that it is this hidden realm that defiles and therefore disqualifies us for the kingdom (see Mtt 15:18-20; 1 Cor 6:9-10).
This was the sole reason for Saul’s rejection. But surely David’s behaviour was far more reprehensible! Did Saul to our knowledge commit murder or adultery? No! So, why did he lose the kingdom and not David? For one simple reason: when Saul was confronted with his disobedience he did not break. Instead he blame-shifted and self-justified (see 1 Sam 15:18-26).
By contrast David broke:
I know how bad I've been; my sins are staring me down. You're the One I've violated, and you've seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the factsbefore you; whatever you decide about me is fair. I've been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born. Psa 51:3-5 MSG
God, who doesn’t look on the outward, judges and deals with us according to the true nature of our heart:
“With the pure You show Yourself pure,
And with the crooked You show Yourself astute Psa 18:26 NASB
It is significant that this scripture comes from the song of David when he was delivered from the hand of Saul. He was now free, coming clear of his wilderness years and the deep inner dealings preparatory for the throne. The Hebrew for “crooked” carries the thought of ‘twists and distortions’. For David’s destiny to be fulfilled he had to allow God into the inner recesses of his nature to unravel every twist of sin. The twists and turns of our inner nature cause us to distort reality. We misinterpret others and even God. To heal and deliver us God therefore shows himself as “astute” towards us, as relevant to our distortions. The Hebrew for “astute” carries the meaning ‘to be cunning, to twist, or wrestle’. The Lord wrestles with us showing great dexterity in responding to the distortions of our inner nature. We are then faced with whether we will resist his dealings or surrender, whether we will harden our hearts or yield. This was the bottom-line difference between Saul and David.
In Part 2 we will discuss shifts in purpose, structure, leadership, and principle.
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Copyright © David Orton 2005
July 30th, 2006 at 3:20 pm
Are You serious? That was the worst, most Biblically out of context paper I have ever read. I can understand that more “tradional” church isn’t for you, but there are plenty of good “traditional” churches out there that do have God in there presence. And relating it to Saul and David? Wow, were you the kid that made the trianagle peg go into the square peg by hitting it with the circle peg?
August 2nd, 2006 at 2:12 pm
Response to Zach the traditional church optimist,
Your short, emotional, reactionary response to only the first part of three of David Orton’s Biblically in-context papers is insipid and barren. If you are going to criticize someone’s teaching at least do your homework first and present a sound Biblical refutation.
As for your comment: “plenty of good “traditional” churches out there that do have God in there presence”:
No “churches” have God in their presence. God dwells only in His ekklesia (called out ones), His temple/tabernacle which is both, the true Christian’s person and the celestial temple of the body of Christ on earth and in heaven:
“Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.” (Acts 7:48-51)
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Cor 3:16)
“Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” (Heb 8:1-2)
You also said: “And relating it to Saul and David? Wow, were you the kid that made the trianagle peg go into the square peg by hitting it with the circle peg?”:
The analogous picture of moving from a Saul like leadership to a heart of David one is prophetically sound and a truly relevant challenge to the modern church. As for your sarcastic tone: I understand you may be “cut to the heart” (Acts 7:54) by the piercing prophetic challenge to both yourself and the church in general, but you could at least loose the nepios attitude and respond in a profitable manner.
Peace
Bretto
bretto@christisall.org