Gilbert House Fellowship

THIS WEEK’S STUDY is a song of deliverance that follows the account of David’s final victory over the Philistine “sons of the Rapha.”

2 Samuel 22 is nearly identical to Psalm 18, which we studied immediately after the account of Saul’s death in battle with the Philistines. In this psalm, David expresses his gratitude to God for His salvation (which in Hebrew is yeshua), deliverance, and faithfulness.

We look at the deeper supernatural implications of this chapter, especially verses 5–16, which seem to mock language used by the pagans to describe their gods—especially the storm-god Baal, who Jesus later identified as Satan (Matt. 12:22–26; Mark 3:22–23; Rev. 2:13).

We also engage in speculation about the strategy and tactics of Satan. Did he deceive other divine rebels into rejecting the authority of God, knowing that they’d be punished—thus eliminating his rivals? Honestly, we don’t know the answer to that, but it makes sense. In the natural realm, members of a political party may be united against their opposition while fighting with one another for power.
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Join us in Israel! Our 2024 tour of Israel features special guest Timothy Alberino! We will tour the Holy Land March 31–April 9, 2024, with an optional three-day extension in Jordan. For more information, log on to www.GilbertsInIsrael.com.
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Subscribe to our new YouTube channels!
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These weekly studies and Derek’s podcast: www.YouTube.com/GilbertHouse
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Our favorite Bible study tools! Check the links in the right-hand column at www.GilbertHouse.org. For the complete Gilbert House Fellowship archive, go to www.spreaker.com/show/gilbert-house-fellowship.

THE BELIEF that the Philistines were giants (or had giants among them) with six fingers and toes on their hands and feet comes from 2 Samuel 21. That’s not necessarily what those verses mean.

As we discussed in our study of 1 Samuel 17, the oldest Hebrew sources, the Dead Sea scrolls and the first-century historian Josephus, record that Goliath of Gath was four cubits (not six) and a span, or about 6’9”. That’s still big, but not as big as he’s usually depicted.

In 2 Samuel 21, the Hebrew phrase translated “descendants of the giant(s),” yelide ha-rapha, doesn’t mean that the Philistines defeated by David and his men were literal genetic descendants of the Rephaim/Nephilim. According to scholar Conrad L’Heureux, the word yelide more accurately means “one who is born into the group by adoption, initiation, or consecration;” in other words, a member of an elite warrior cult whose patron was “the rapha”—a word that is the singular form of Rephaim.

Who was “the rapha”? We can’t say for sure. The Canaanites venerated a deity called Rapiu, the “king of eternity,” who ruled at Ashtaroth and Edrei, the royal cities of King Og of Bashan, a land that was believed to be the entrance to the netherworld. While Rapiu is the singular form of rapiuma (the Canaanite form of Rephaim), we don’t have an explicit link between Rapiu and “the rapha.”

All that said, it is possible that this warrior cult engaged in rituals that enhanced its members epigenetically. After all, they were able to wield 12-pound spears with shafts “like a weaver’s beam.”

One of the clues is in the name of the Philistine warrior Ishbi-benob. That name should be rendered Ishbi ben ob, or “Ishbi, son of the medium.” The Hebrew word ôb, usually translated “medium,” means “owner of a necromantic ritual pit,” and it’s related to the Sumerian abzu, from which we get the word “abyss.”

In short, the Philistine “giants” were demon-worshipping, and possibly demon-possessed, warriors, similar to Viking berserkers.

We also note that the verse mentioning the six-fingered Philistine, 2 Sam. 21:20, doesn’t necessarily mean that this was a trait of the Nephilim. This (and its parallel, 1 Chr. 20:6) is the only verse that mentions polydactyly in the Bible. Since the giants of Noah’s day were destroyed in the Flood, this may not be a genetic trait of the Nephilim at all.

To be clear, we’re open to the idea of a post-Flood incursion of giant divine-human hybrids. But such an incursion is not explicit in the Bible and it can’t be proved archaeologically—at least, not yet.
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Our Build Barn Better project is making progress! Our 1,200 square pole barn has a new floor and new wiring. Insulation, lights, and HVAC will follow. After that, we’ll move our studios, book/DVD warehouse, and shipping office out of our home. If you are so led, you can help out by clicking here.

Get our free app! It connects you to these studies plus our weekly video programs Unraveling Revelation and A View from the Bunker, and the podcast that started this journey in 2005, P.I.D. Radio. Best of all, it bypasses the gatekeepers of Big Tech!

The app is available for iOS, Android, Roku, and Apple TV. Links to the app stores are at www.gilberthouse.org/app/.

Video on demand of our best teachings! Stream presentations and teachings based on our research at our new video on demand site!

Check out our online store! www.GilbertHouse.org/store is a virtual book table with books and DVDs related to our weekly Bible study.  Take advantage of our monthly specials!
——————
Join us in Israel! Our 2024 tour of Israel features special guest Timothy Alberino! We will tour the Holy Land March 31–April 9, 2024, with an optional three-day extension in Jordan. For more information, log on to www.GilbertsInIsrael.com.
——————
Subscribe to our new YouTube channels!
Unraveling Revelation: www.YouTube.com/UnravelingRevelation
These weekly studies and Derek’s podcast: www.YouTube.com/GilbertHouse
—————— 
Our favorite Bible study tools! Check the links in the right-hand column at www.GilbertHouse.org. For the complete Gilbert House Fellowship archive, go to www.spreaker.com/show/gilbert-house-fellowship.

THE POLITICS of David’s day was just brutal and bloody as it is today.

Following the rebellion of Absalom, the people of Israel conclude that their best option is to welcome David home as king. For his part, David tried to win the loyalty of his relatives in the tribe of Judah by replacing one of his nephews, Joab, as commander of the army with another nephew, Amasa—who, we failed to mention, had led Absalom's troops into battle against the army of David!

These moves had two consequences: First, the murder of Amasa by Joab in a bloody encounter at Gibeon; and second, another conflict between Judah and the northern tribes, which led to the rebellion of Sheba the son of Bichri.

Sheba’s rebellion ended when Joab and a small force pursued him to the northernmost city in Israel, Abel Beth Maacah, where a wise woman convinced the town that the best way to respond to Joab’s siege was to deliver the severed head of Sheba—finally bringing to an end the civil war triggered by Absalom.

Our Build Barn Better project is making progress! Our 1,200 square pole barn has been cleared of all the junk and extra furniture. The new floor was applied last week and work has begun on the breaker panel and electric system.

Next, we’ll insulate the building, install an HVAC system, and move our studios and book/DVD warehouse and shipping office out of our home. If you are so led, you can help out by clicking here.

Get our free app! It connects you to these studies plus our weekly video programs, SciFriday, Unraveling Revelation, and A View from the Bunker. The app is available for iOS, Android, Roku, and Apple TV. Links to the app stores are at www.gilberthouse.org/app/.

Join us in Israel! Our 2024 tour of Israel features special guest Timothy Alberino! We will tour the Holy Land March 31–April 9, 2024, with an optional three-day extension in Jordan. For more information, log on to www.GilbertsInIsrael.com.

Please subscribe and share our YouTube channel, www.YouTube.com/GilbertHouse!

Check out our online store! www.GilbertHouse.org/store is a virtual book table with books and DVDs related to our weekly Bible study.

Video on demand of our best teachings! Stream presentations and teachings based on our research at our new video on demand site!

DAVID’S CAPACITY for self-examination is remarkable. Many powerful people throughout history found it difficult, if not impossible, to admit flaws and learn from mistakes.

However, David also understood the influence of spirits in the unseen realm on human activity, condemning the elim (“gods”) who administer affairs on Earth unjustly.

We also discuss “the proud” in Psalm 40:4. The Hebrew word rehabim may be a reference to the “helpers of Rahab” mentioned in Job 9:13, demonic minions of Leviathan—forces of chaos at work in the world even today.

Our Build Barn Better project is making progress! Our 1,200 square pole barn has been cleared of all the junk and extra furniture. The new floor was applied this week.

Next, we’ll insulate the building, install an HVAC system, and move our studios and book/DVD warehouse and shipping office out of our home. If you are so led, you can help out by clicking here.

Get our free app! It connects you to these studies plus our weekly video programs, SciFriday, Unraveling Revelation, and A View from the Bunker. The app is available for iOS, Android, Roku, and Apple TV. Links to the app stores are at www.gilberthouse.org/app/.

Join us in Israel! Our 2024 tour of Israel features special guest Timothy Alberino! We will tour the Holy Land March 31–April 9, 2024, with an optional three-day extension in Jordan. For more information, log on to www.GilbertsInIsrael.com.

Please subscribe and share our YouTube channel, www.YouTube.com/GilbertHouse!

Check out our online store! www.GilbertHouse.org/store is a virtual book table with books and DVDs related to our weekly Bible study.

Video on demand of our best teachings! Stream presentations and teachings based on our research at our new video on demand site!

ONE OF THE hardest things you can do is give thanks to God in the middle of trouble.

This week, we read a collection of psalms composed by David while he was running from his son Absalom, who’d raised an army and was marching on Jerusalem. Remarkably, in the midst of David’s heartbreak, realizing that either he or his son would die in the battle to come and reflecting on his failures as a father, he was still able to give thanks and put his trust in the Lord.

Our Build Barn Better project is making progress! Our 1,200 square pole barn has been cleared of all the junk and extra furniture. Work begins on the floor, walls, windows, and electric panel the third week in July. After that, we’ll insulate the building, install an HVAC system, and move our studios and book/DVD warehouse and shipping office out of our home. If you are so led, you can help out by clicking here.

Get our free app! It connects you to these studies plus our weekly video programs, SciFriday, Unraveling Revelation, and A View from the Bunker. The app is available for iOS, Android, Roku, and Apple TV. Links to the app stores are at www.gilberthouse.org/app/.

Join us in Israel! Our 2024 tour of Israel features special guest Timothy Alberino! We will tour the Holy Land March 31–April 9, 2024, with an optional three-day extension in Jordan. For more information, log on to www.GilbertsInIsrael.com.

Please subscribe and share our YouTube channel, www.YouTube.com/GilbertHouse!

Check out our online store! www.GilbertHouse.org/store is a virtual book table with books and DVDs related to our weekly Bible study.

Video on demand of our best teachings! Stream presentations and teachings based on our research at our new video on demand site!

DAVID WAS NOT a good father. That’s obvious from the way his own children treated each other—and him.

Sometimes, kids turn out badly despite their parents’ best efforts, but David seems to have been unable to discipline his sons. Amnon, his eldest, raped his half-sister, Tamar, and was murdered by David’s second son, Absalom. After a few years in exile, he returned to Jerusalem and began plotting to overthrow David, who, as we read last week, fled Jerusalem to spare the city the devastation of war.

This week, we read that Absalom, on the advice of David’s former counselor Ahitophel, “went in” to David’s concubines—a crass but very blunt message to Israel that the old man was powerless to stop Absalom from taking over.

But God foiled the plans of Absalom, Ahitophel, and the unseen principalities and powers that schemed to hijack the House of David. In a battle that probably took place east of the Jordan River, Absalom was undone by his pride and his long, flowing hair. And tragically, even though Absalom’s rebellion led to a civil war that claimed the lives of 20,000 men, David grieved more for Absalom than for those who had risked and lost their lives in David’s defense.

Here's the link to Pastor Doug Van Dorn's Reformed Baptist Church of Northern Colorado.

Download Doug's sermons here.

Our Build Barn Better project is making progress! Our 1,200 square pole barn has been cleared of all the junk and extra furniture. Work begins on the floor, walls, windows, and electric panel the third week in July. After that, we’ll insulate the building, install an HVAC system, and move our studios and book/DVD warehouse and shipping office out of our home. If you are so led, you can help out by clicking here.

Get our free app! It connects you to these studies plus our weekly video programs, SciFriday, Unraveling Revelation, and A View from the Bunker. The app is available for iOS, Android, Roku, and Apple TV. Links to the app stores are at www.gilberthouse.org/app/.

Join us in Israel! Our 2024 tour of Israel features special guest Timothy Alberino! We will tour the Holy Land March 31–April 9, 2024, with an optional three-day extension in Jordan. For more information, log on to www.GilbertsInIsrael.com.

Please subscribe and share our YouTube channel, www.YouTube.com/GilbertHouse!

Check out our online store! www.GilbertHouse.org/store is a virtual book table with books and DVDs related to our weekly Bible study.

Video on demand of our best teachings! Stream presentations and teachings based on our research at our new video on demand site!

TALK ABOUT ingratitude: David’s son Absalom, who’d fled to his grandfather’s kingdom of Geshur, returned to Jerusalem after a two-year exile and apparently began scheming to remove David from the throne as soon as he came home. 

We discuss the ploy by Absalom’s cousin, David’s nephew Joab, to return the king’s oldest surviving son to Jerusalem, and how Absalom forced Joab to meet with him and arrange his reconciliation with David. Once Absalom had regained David’s trust, he set about undermining his father’s authority, winning over the hearts of Israel through shrewd political campaigning in the gate of the city.  

David, upon (finally!) realizing that he was in mortal danger, abandoned Jerusalem—not from fear, but to spare the city and its people from the destruction of a siege. We also talk about David’s flight from the city. His route, across the Kidron Valley toward the Jordan River, foreshadowed the path of Jesus from Jerusalem to the Crucifixion on the summit of the Mount of Olives.

Our Build Barn Better project is making progress! Our 1,200 square pole barn has been cleared of all the junk and extra furniture. Work begins on the floor, walls, windows, and electric panel the third week in July. After that, we’ll insulate the building, install an HVAC system, and move our studios and book/DVD warehouse and shipping office out of our home. If you are so led, you can help out by clicking here.

Get our free app! It connects you to these studies plus our weekly video programs, SciFriday, Unraveling Revelation, and A View from the Bunker. The app is available for iOS, Android, Roku, and Apple TV. Links to the app stores are at www.gilberthouse.org/app/.

Join us in Israel! Our 2024 tour of Israel features special guest Timothy Alberino! We will tour the Holy Land March 31–April 9, 2024, with an optional three-day extension in Jordan. For more information, log on to www.GilbertsInIsrael.com.

Please subscribe and share our YouTube channel, www.YouTube.com/GilbertHouse!

Check out our online store! www.GilbertHouse.org/store is a virtual book table with books and DVDs related to our weekly Bible study.

Video on demand of our best teachings! Stream presentations and teachings based on our research at our new video on demand site!

THE PSALMS this week follow our chronological reading order, meaning they were written by David after he was confronted by the prophet Nathan for conspiring to kill Uriah the Hittite so that David could take his wife, Bathsheba.

We discuss the repentant heart of David that comes through in these psalms—acknowledging his guilt and pleading with God to wipe away his sin, transgression, and iniquity.

Then we return to 2 Samuel for a preview of the turbulent period of David’s life that followed when his oldest sons began plotting to succeed David on the throne. His eldest, Amnon, sinned by raping his half-sister, Tamar; in turn, Tamar’s brother, Absalom, took revenge by plotting Amnon’s murder two years later.

In both cases, David didn’t help matters. For one thing, he didn’t punish Amnon for raping his half-sister—David’s own daughter! That was compounded by his failure to punish Absalom for the murder of Amnon.

For his part, based on what he eventually did, it’s not clear that Absalom was avenging his sister’s assault by killing his half-brother or using her humiliation to justify eliminating an obstacle between himself and the throne of David.

Our Build Barn Better project is making progress! Our 1,200 square pole barn has been cleared of all the junk and extra furniture. Work begins on the floor, walls, windows, and electric panel the third week in July. After that, we’ll insulate the building, install an HVAC system, and move our studios and book/DVD warehouse and shipping office out of our home. If you are so led, you can help out by clicking here.

Get our free app! It connects you to these studies plus our weekly video programs, SciFriday, Unraveling Revelation, and A View from the Bunker. The app is available for iOS, Android, Roku, and Apple TV. Links to the app stores are at www.gilberthouse.org/app/.

Join us in Israel! Our 2024 tour of Israel features special guest Timothy Alberino! We will tour the Holy Land March 31–April 9, 2024, with an optional three-day extension in Jordan. For more information, log on to www.GilbertsInIsrael.com.

Please subscribe and share our YouTube channel, www.YouTube.com/GilbertHouse!

Check out our online store! www.GilbertHouse.org/store is a virtual book table with books and DVDs related to our weekly Bible study.

Video on demand of our best teachings! Stream presentations and teachings based on our research at our new video on demand site!

DAVID’S PLOY to take the wife of Uriah the Hittite is another story that shows that the Bible has not been cleaned up to make the humans used by God look more, well, saintly.

Bathsheba, whose name probably derives from Hurrian meaning “lady of Hebat,” the chief female deity of the Hurrian pantheon, was impregnated by David while her husband, Uriah the Hittite, fought with the army in Ammon. After trying unsuccessfully to avoid responsibility for his child by convincing Uriah to be with Bathsheba while on leave from the army, David plotted with his nephew Joab, who commanded the army, to leave Uriah unprotected in battle so he’d be killed.

This despicable ploy was transparent enough to Joab and anyone else with eyes to see, but it was obviously not hidden from God. This led to an epic confrontation between David and the prophet Nathan, who came to David with a story about a wealthy man stealing a lamb from a poor man. David declared that the wealthy man deserved to die—to which Nathan replied, “You are the man!”

We discuss David’s response to the decree that his child would die, and that rebellion would arise within David’s house. We also note that the entire incident with Bathsheba is missing from 1 Chronicles, possibly because the writer of the account compiled after the Babylonian captivity found the story just too distasteful to connect to David.

And we talk about the Philistine giants in 1 Chronicles 20, a preview of a deeper discussion we’ll have when we read the parallel account in 2 Samuel 21 (in about six weeks, if we keep to our posted schedule). Basically, the Hebrew phrase translated “descendants of the giants” does not mean what the English words imply. Goliath and the other Philistine “giants” were big, yes (although the Septuagint translation and the first-century Jewish historian Josephus write that Goliath was 6’9”, not 9’9”), but more importantly, they were members of a warrior cult.

Help us Build Barn Better! This is our project to convert our 1,200 square foot shop building from a place to park our yard tractor into usable studio and warehouse space. In 2023, we plan to fix the holes in the walls, replace windows, insulate the building, install an HVAC system, and move our studios and book/DVD warehouse and shipping office out of our home. If you are so led, you can donate by clicking here.

Get our free app! It connects you to these studies plus our weekly video programs, SciFriday, Unraveling Revelation, and A View from the Bunker. The app is available for iOS, Android, Roku, and Apple TV. Links to the app stores are at www.gilberthouse.org/app/.

Join us in Israel! Our 2024 tour of Israel features special guest Timothy Alberino! We will tour the Holy Land March 31–April 9, 2024, with an optional three-day extension in Jordan. For more information, log on to www.GilbertsInIsrael.com.

Please subscribe and share our YouTube channel, www.YouTube.com/GilbertHouse!

Check out our online store! www.GilbertHouse.org/store is a virtual book table with books and DVDs related to our weekly Bible study.

Video on demand of our best teachings! Stream presentations and teachings based on our research at our new video on demand site!

THE TONE of this week’s psalms seems odd given the military victories of David that we studied last week.

This is why we use a chronological reading order: We see in this week’s readings that David, despite his success on the battlefield, really grappled with the opposition he faced from enemies both from without and within his kingdom. But despite his occasional cries of despair, David always returned to give the Lord thanks and praise.

Help us Build Barn Better! This is our project to convert our 1,200 square foot shop building from a place to park our yard tractor into usable studio and warehouse space. In 2023, we plan to fix the holes in the walls, replace windows, insulate the building, install an HVAC system, and move our studios and book/DVD warehouse and shipping office out of our home. If you are so led, you can donate by clicking here.

Get our free app! It connects you to these studies plus our weekly video programs, SciFriday, Unraveling Revelation, and A View from the Bunker. The app is available for iOS, Android, Roku, and Apple TV. Links to the app stores are at www.gilberthouse.org/app/.

Join us in Israel! Our 2024 tour of Israel features special guest Timothy Alberino! We will tour the Holy Land March 31–April 9, 2024, with an optional three-day extension in Jordan. For more information, log on to www.GilbertsInIsrael.com.

Please subscribe and share our YouTube channel, www.YouTube.com/GilbertHouse!

Check out our online store! www.GilbertHouse.org/store is a virtual book table with books and DVDs related to our weekly Bible study.

Video on demand of our best teachings! Stream presentations and teachings based on our research at our new video on demand site!