Page 58 - The Mark of the Beast

I Timothy 3:4-6
He must be one who manages his own household well..., and not a new convert, so
that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the
devil.

Pride and conceit were the downfall of the man God chose David to replace. King Saul
was little in his eyes before he was made king, but then pride took hold of his life and led
to arrogance and disobedience before God. The prophet Samuel spoke to Saul of the change
that occurred in him.

I Samuel 15:17
Samuel said, "Is it not true, though you were little in your own eyes, you were made
the head of the tribes of Israel? And Yahweh anointed you king over Israel...”

Saul was once little in his own eyes, even hiding himself among the baggage when the
men of Israel were seeking him to make him their first king. Yet Saul did not remain little
in his own eyes. He became conceited, and in his pride he became stubborn and willful. He
was no longer careful to do those things that God commanded him. He chose to do things
his own way, rather than God’s way.
We never read of Saul that he slew the lion or the bear, or ruled over the creatures. In
fact, in the Bible’s first mention of Saul we see him being led along by animals that are
noted for their stubbornness. It would seem that this failure to rule over this stubborn
animal was a prophetic testimony of what was to come in Saul’s life.

I Samuel 9:3-4
Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. So Kish said to his son Saul, "Take
now with you one of the servants, and arise, go search for the donkeys." He passed
through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but
they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were
not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find
them.

Repeatedly we read how these dumb animals, these stubborn donkeys, eluded Saul.
Everywhere he looked he could not find them so that he could rein them in, subdue them
and take them back to his father firmly in his control. This speaks of his inability to rule in
the pride and stubbornness of his own flesh and present this area to God the Father as
under his subjection. Saul never did find the donkeys, or rule over them.

I Samuel 9:19-20
Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the seer... As for your donkeys which were lost
three days ago, do not set your mind on them, for they have been found.”

Samuel reported to Saul that the donkeys had been found. What Saul failed to do,
someone else accomplished. Even so, in the church there are many who are failing to find
and rule over the beast nature within them, but God will have a remnant who will do so.
There will be those like David who are victorious over the beasts. Both Saul’s and David’s
lives are parables which reveal that God calls many men and women to share the honor of