There are two things that God will have me stir up in your hearts:

(1) The making of kings

(2) Multitudes in the valley of decision – who will bring them to the valley of decision? How will they know except people are sent to them?

We are being sent to preach the gospel of salvation to the world, but we are all engrossed in the same struggle with them. What are the things that we need to check in our lives?

I found out something when I was studying and I then gave it a name – the school called BAH-Bethlehem, Adullam and Hebron.

(1)  Bethlehem: Bethlehem was first mentioned in Genesis 35:19 “So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem),” A specific thing happened there – the death of Rachael, Jacob’s wife; also the birth of Benjamin took place there. Bethlehem therefore was the place of death (of Rachael) and resurrection (birth of Benjamin). Bethlehem was the place of the death of sin. Remember Rachael was carrying the false gods of her father, but she died. Just to let us know that there has to be a transformation for everyone who wants to be a king. Just as it happened on the cross, where the sins of the flesh were nailed to the cross (death) so that sin will no longer abide in you; and in the resurrection of the new life you stand as a child of God, on His right hand.

A starting point in the school of BAH, is the transformation that takes place in Bethlehem.  This was where David started his life, this was where Samuel anointed him.  When Jesse presented his sons to Samuel and Samuel would not anoint any of them, he sent for David, who was in solitude in the wilderness. And it was in that place of solitude that David had fellowship with God and got to know God’s secrets.

In addition to the cross, David was a child that learnt responsibility. He was not his father’s favorite but he was there in the wilderness, tending his father’s flock. The economic base of his father was in his hands, yet he was in solitude, he was an unfavoured child. This journey of the cross does not bring you favor, people are not going to look at you kindly, but all the secrets of the Eternal King are in your hands, if you are walking with Him. Bethlehem is the starting place in the making of kings.

Jesus Christ Himself was not approved by His own family, yet He did not sin in all his relationship with His people and His relatives. So also David, a child born out of wedlock, an outcast among his family, yet the fellowship he learnt in solitude with God were the things that made a beginning for him. If you consider fellowship with God as trivial, you can never qualify to be a king and priest with God. And fellowship is not the same as going to church, that is just another dimension of it.

Do you want to be a king with God? Then look and follow the pattern. What is your life like? Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you dead to sin and alive to His Spirit? Are you walking in His presence in fellowship that He can commune with you day to day? Are you willing to take responsibility even in the midst of unpopularity? As it happened to Jesus so did it happen to David?  Not only did his father not reckon with him until God called for him, but he never even allowed the glory of knowing that he had been anointed as king to stop him, he went back to tend his father’s sheep; he was still a servant.

When it was time to go to battle, nobody reckoned with David, he was just asked to take food to his brother, which he did obediently.  But on getting to the battlefield, he wondered why everyone was afraid of Goliath, because he had learnt how mighty God is, through fellowship with Him. Even when his brothers and others harassed him he did not respond negatively. He explained until his voice was heard.

I pray the Holy Spirit will make you see what things are needed in your life, in terms of your relationship with those who despise you, because in the place called Bethlehem resentment has no place. Jesus never resented His brethren. None of His brethren believed in Him. But after His resurrection, He sent Mary Magdalene to go tell His brethren that He was raised; and by Acts 1, they now believed in Him. Something had happened to them.

So also with David who at a point was an outcast in his family, but when there was trouble in Israel, his entire family went to stay with him in the cave of Adullam. There was no way this could have happened if David had resented them. If resentment for our folks and brethren still has a place in our hearts, then we are not ready for kingship. Are you resenting a brother, a sister, a spouse? Then think twice. Many will never graduate from the Bethlehem school, but it doesn’t have to be you.

“The LORD said to Moses, “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, this is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering shall be on the hearth upon the altar all night until the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and put his linen breeches upon his body, and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has consumed the burnt offering on the altar, and put them beside the altar. Then he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes outside the camp to a clean place.” Leviticus 6:8-11

This is the law of the burnt offering.  The animal which is the sacrifice for the offering writhes in pain as it is burnt, but give off a sweet aroma unto God and at the end leaves nothing but ashes. That is the calling of those who go into the school of Bethlehem.  In the place of pain, there is a sweet aroma that goes up to God, there is an offertory that is acceptable to Him, but all that the world sees is formless ashes. But many times we want to be like the world, what contradiction, for those who are looking forward to be kings. Concerning Jesus, it was written that there was nothing in Him that He should be desired of men, but we want to be the toast of the city, be popular-jingo! What is your goal? To be the king of this world, or to be a king priest to the Heavenly Father?

The school of Bethlehem is the school of solitude but of fellowship with God; of sacrifice but of sweet aroma to God; of formlessness to the world but of a resurrected life to the Living King.

The Cave of Adullam

“David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. And every one who was in distress, and every one who was in debt, and every one who was discontented, gathered to him; and he became captain over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.” 1 Samuel 22:1-2

If David had not fulfilled his responsibilities in Bethlehem, his brethren would not have had reason to go to Adullam with him. Just like when Jesus rose from the dead and sent forth Mary to minister to His brethren first, and they came to believe in Him. A transformation had happened to them, because Jesus passed the School of Bethlehem.

When the one who is a king in waiting learns to love and serve the misfits of the society, that’s what happened in Adullam. All the people who could not find their place in society, found solace in David, and he became a captain over them. He never forgot that he had been anointed king, but he also knew how to relate with all the misfits in the society because he too had gone through that. David was a keeper of the sheep of Israel, and this included Israel as a people – both the rich and the poor.  Even after being anointed, he had to go back to the cast-outs, and to serve.  If you look at the testimonies of Jesus in John 15:17, you will see the parallels here.

Adullam is where our kingdom dies (the kingdom of self – I and me) and we allow the kingdom of God to begin through us. It is where every self-seeking, self-serving motive of our hearts are taken away. May God teach us the humility of Christ so that we will serve one another in love.  In the day that the Philistines took away the wives and children of the men David ruled over, they rebelled against him and were ready to kill him, but he encouraged himself in the Lord and continued to serve them. He went through that experience with them. They brought back all the captives and he shared the booties of war with them, he never complained once. The spirit of the true king is that he is a servant to be trodden upon, yet he never holds back when it is time to give.

Some will never make it out of the school of Bethlehem, and some out of the school Adullam, but if you don’t go through all the three schools, you will not be made a king.

Hebron

The name of Hebron was Kirjath-arba (Genesis 23). The unique thing about the lives of Abraham and Sarah is God’s covenant. Hebron speaks of covenant. Covenant relationship is at the crowning lap in the race to kingship. At the point in time, as you follow God; when everything begins to fall apart, the only thing you can hold on to is the covenant and the promise that God has given to you. If you cannot hold onto to covenant in the face of circumstances, you cannot make it. Covenant relationship is the key in this last part of the race to kingship and only those who are in constant covenant relationship with God will make it to kingship (Joshua 14:10-15).

Hebron is the highest mountain in Israel, yet Caleb said “give me this mountain, irrespective of the trouble; I am ready to go uphill. The place of covenant is an uphill place, when my flesh is saying no, I must keep climbing, because the covenant-keeping God will take me.” And Caleb won the battle.

How many of you would stand upon the covenants of God, in the face of the opposition that is surrounding you everywhere – in your homes, the society, the governments’ failure and all? How many of us will back away and compromise, just to get a little comfort?

Covenant relationships require three things:

• Loyalty, regardless of circumstance
• Truthfulness, regardless of cost
• Forgiveness, regardless of the pain that has been caused you.

Are you loyal to God, are you truthful in your walk with Him, are you forgiving in the same way that you have been forgiven? Only when you have passed the school of BAH are you ready to point people to Zion because Zion has a king, the Lord Jesus Christ.