The Death of King Saul, the Book of Zephaniah
and the Word to the Church in Pergamum

I Give This Word In Holy Fear.

It is weighty and serious and something I don’t delight in. I feel the constraint of caution and at the same time the compulsion of obedience to deliver it.

I believe we are about to witness what is arguably the most important shift in power the church will ever go through in this age. The fall of the ruling “King Saul” system. There are three passages that the Lord has shown me that help to explain this shift:

• I Chronicles 10:13-14 — The Lord put Saul to death … and gave the Kingdom over to David.

• The Book of Zephaniah — The “remnant” will have their fortunes restored, will plunder the land and inherit it.

• Revelations 2:12-17 — Jesus rebukes those in Pergamum who hold to the teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitanes, fighting against them with the ‘Sword of His Mouth, giving gifts to the overcomers.

I first got the word on Pergamum about six months ago, but it was only at the beginning of making this issue that the Lord told me it was now time to release it. However, it wasn’t until weeks later when I stated reading through the month’s prophecies from ETPV that I saw more than a dozen words discuss the same issue. This shift is certainly now coming upon us.

The Death of Saul

First, the verse I Chronicles 10:13-14 (NIV) reads: “¹³ Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, ¹⁴ and did not inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.”

Saul’s foretold death is now upon us. The Kingdom will now be handed over to David. In my understanding, “King Saul” is that which now controls the church under the religious spirit. This has a great many implications that I do not want to spell out here, but in general indicates being ruled those who walk by flesh, not by spirit; who call themselves by God’s name, but live for themselves; they who claim to be serving God’s people, but force God’s people to serve them and their own desires instead. It is the world posing as the true Body of Christ.

David is the group of people who are in disfavor with the religious establishment, but have long been chosen by God to replace it. They have been in training, in the wilderness, persecuted by the religious system, shunned and marginalized. But instead of being destroyed as the religious system hoped, they have been preserved, provided for, taught, strengthened and have matured in the ways of the Lord’s Kingdom. They are a people after the Lord’s heart.

But David did not rejoice when Saul died. He in fact showed much love and favor to those of Saul’s house who remained alive. He didn’t say, “I told you so! You got what you deserved! Ha ha!” No, but instead from his heart he wrote a lament, wishing things could have been different. He wanted Saul to change his ways and enjoy God’s favor. David was not trying to take over the rule of the Kingdom of Israel by force or subversion, although he was preparing himself for this tremendous responsibility of one day ruling that had been foretold.

Two other points: the House of Saul did not cease to exist when David inherited the Kingdom, but it slowly weakened, as the House of David increased in strength (2 Samuel 3:1). Also, David began to rule in Hebron, not Jerusalem, and was there growing in strength for several years until his identity as king took firm root and he embraced the Lord’s promises to walk in the full rights of his position. He took Jerusalem, brought the Ark of the Covenant there, and established the Kingdom the strongest it had ever been or ever would be. There is obviously a lot more to read into this analogy.

David’s heart

But let us again solemnly consider David’s reaction to the news that King Saul had been killed. Rather than asking How, let’s consider WHY he reacted the way he did. Was he schizophrenic? In denial? Delusional?

None of the above. He was being preserved by the Holy Spirit in a state of spiritual fear of the Lord, to stop him from sinning in a way that would be all too natural a temptation for a man merely walking the ways of the flesh. The Lord told me David did not act on his own impulses to spare King Saul’s life in the cave. David knew his life was in danger, and that Saul was unrighteous in pursuing him. Yet he would not lift his hand against the one the Lord had previously anointed for His use, even though that vessel had become apostate, ungodly, evil, corrupt, and basically satanically self-serving. David’s reaction in sparing Saul’s life was not natural. It was supernatural, in and through the Lord’s Spirit at work in his life, character, will and emotions.

This is the sense of the Fear of the Lord that is now upon the new church, those of the remnant, those in the spirit of David, who are now going to inherit the Kingdom, and rule in place of the dead religious façade, the corrupt system that the Lord has judged and will remove—but nevertheless the system He has been using up until now.

Zephaniah: the Humble Remnant Inherit the Land

Second, the Lord gave me the entire book of the prophet Zephaniah, which is very short, and describes the result of the Lord’s judgment, the destruction of the whole earth, but specifically mentions this wreckage coming against the Lord’s own people (in Judah and Jerusalem). The only ones who are preserved are the “remnant.”

This prophecy came during the reign of Hezekiah and Josiah, the last kings who pleased the Lord, just before the exile of the establishment and the burning of the Temple of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. The result was disastrous to the establishment and all but a few people—it was those who were ‘poor’ who were left to inherit everything in the whole of the land. I think this is part of what Jesus meant when he said, “the meek shall inherit the earth.” Proverbs says the violent become rich, but when the Lord judges, their wealth is given to the meek as a free inheritance.

Notice verse 1:11, the destruction of the merchants; 1:12, the punishment of the complacent who say God will do nothing, good or bad. But the key verse here is 2:3, the admonition to seek the Lord, obey Him, seek His righteousness and be humble so that you may, perchance, be counted among the remnant who will be preserved, sheltered in the day of his wrath.

Please understand that the remnant is not a group of people counted by doctrine or belief, but by their heart, their real relationship with GOD (seeking God, obeying him from the heart, desiring righteousness, humility). These will be the ones who will have their fortunes restored, (2:7), will plunder the land and inherit it, (2:9); they will eat (be fed), lay down (find rest) and no one will make them afraid (they will have peace) (3:12-13); and again, they will have their fortunes restored before their very eyes, (3:20).

But please remember the key verse is Zephaniah 2:3: seek the Lord, obey Him, seek His righteousness and be humble and PERHAPS you would be counted among the remnant.

Pergamum: to exalt man, hirelings and control: open door to the Religious Spirit

The third, and most weighty verse that the Lord reveled to me about this shift is Revelations 2:12-17, the passage written to the church in Pergamum, which mentions the sins of Balaam, the Nicolaitans, and promises special “hidden manna” to those who overcome.

Although I have been working on an in-depth teaching on this issue, which is very long and detailed and in a separate article, I want to mention the main points here.

In a nutshell, this is a church ruled by men—not men who obey or worship God, but men who obey themselves and worship titles, positions, events, programs. One meaning of the word “Pergamum” is “to exalt or put on a pedestal,” and this was the city where Caesar was first and most prominently worshiped as a god. “Balaam” means “to devour the people,” and by type indicates serving God for money; that is, serving two masters or being a hireling. There is also a sexual sin reference which could manifest physically as well as spiritually (spiritual adultery—again, serving two masters). Similarly, “Nicolaitans” means “to conquer or rule the people like a tyrant.” It indicates the church that honors the clergy who rule over the common people, the laity, instead of encouraging the “priesthood of all believers” or of having the church leadership actually serving the regular people as one walking in the spirit of a real shepherd would naturally.

These powers in a church create a spiritual atmosphere of abuse, control, manipulation, abuse, mixture with the world, promotion of man’s doctrines, a religions bondage (legalism, works, walking by flesh) displacing a desire for real intimacy (forgiveness, grace, walking by the spirit). This allows the spirits of the Pharisees, King Saul, and even Jezebel to flourish.

Jesus says to this church that He will come to “YOU” meaning the whole Pergamum congregation, and wage war against “THEM” meaning those who still adhere to the practices and doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitans.

Blessings to Overcomers

‘Hidden manna’ (deep revelations) a ‘white stone’ (acquittal, forgiveness) and ‘a new name’ (a new identity) are promised those in Pergamum who overcome the ways of Balaam and the Nicolaitans. I think the ‘hidden manna’ in this case is new understanding and revelation specifically about Kingdom leadership, the area where the Pergamum church was primarily bound.

One key understanding the Lord taught me, that I have previously briefly shared, is the difference between the models of worldly leadership vs Kingdom leadership. They are polar opposites and we naturally currently lean towards the former.

Basically, the world system of control and manipulation manifests as a spirit of “No!” and can be represented as a leader standing on top of an organization looking down on the people within it, pointing his finger at them, saying things like, “No, you can’t come up here! You aren’t ready yet. You don’t deserve it. No!!” This is the spirit (attitude, or driving motivation) that represses people to follow the goals of the organization and its “alpha dog” leaders.

This is the opposite of the Spirit of Christ, which instead is a spirit of love and nurturing, and can be called the spirit of “Yes!” represented as a leader who gets under the people he leads within the organization and lifts them up and says things like, “Yes, you can achieve it! You can do it! In fact, I’ll help you achieve your goals. Together, you’ll make it where you want to go! I’ll help you! Yes!!” This is the spirit (attitude, or driving motivation) that seeks to equip the members of the church to be able to fulfill their own personal callings.

I was wondering about the “five fold” church and whether only churches that had all five “offices” operating within them would mature and the Lord explained briefly that positions and titles aside, a “five fold” church is simply a church that equips. The new wineskin is not a church with different titles or a reformed hierarchy, but a church with a different spirit, the spirit of the Shepherd that is focused on empowering disciples to go out and do the work of the ministry as they are each personally gifted.

What I understand of this shift is that the spirit of worldly leadership and purpose in the church will fall—the spirit of ‘No’ with its methods, goals and adherents will be removed—and in its place those like David will be moved by the Lord into leadership. Just as natural Israel achieved the pinnacle of their success under King David, so will the church, spiritual Israel, do so under this new move. This will be the new face of the Church so many have foreseen. And while we ought to rejoice in the Lord’s Kingdom becoming established under David, let us also be mindful to mourn, not gloat, over the “Saul” that is being put to death.

Edward Johnson

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