Lord of the Breakthrough

So David came to Baal-perazim and defeated them there; and he said, "The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like the breakthrough of waters."  Therefore he named that placed Baal-perazim.  --2 Samuel 5:20

I did business today with a new client.  He is Hispanic, and his first name is Melquisedec.  I asked him if he knew that this was a Bible name.  He said I was the first person to notice that fact.  All of his friends and co-workers call him "Mel".  Most of the gringos he knows can't even pronounce it correctly:  mehl KEE seh dehk.  On a whim, I looked up the name in an online baby names app.  On the one hand, the name is listed there.  On the other hand, there was no meaning listed.  In fact, it said "Meaning: unknown."

I can tell you what it means.  It comes from the Hebrew name Melchizedek, and it means "King of Righteousness", and by extension, Priest of the Most High God.  The name is found in Genesis 14:18 in the story of Abraham being blessed by God.  You remember that Abraham obeyed God, left his home and his family, and went to a land that God would show him.  When he got there, Melchizedek was king of Jerusalem.  Abraham paid him a tithe, or a tenth, of everything he had.  In the New Testament, the name is associated with Jesus.  Hebrews 5:9-10 says this:

And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Yesterday in my daily Bible reading, I read 2 Samuel 5 about David unifying the country under his leadership once Saul died.  At first, David ruled over Judah from a town called Hebron.  It took him seven years to be recognized as king over all of Israel.  During this time, David marched on Jerusalem.  It was held by the Jebusites, a Canaanite tribe that had been there from before the time of Moses.  Remember in Joshua, chapters 10 and 11, the Lord commanded the people to drive out the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites.  Joshua apportioned the area around Jerusalem to the tribe of Benjamin, but they were unable (or unwilling) to utterly destroy the Jebusites as God had commanded.  Therefore they were still around when Saul was king.  Saul had tolerated them; David would not.

There was a little taunting going on between David and the Jebusites.  Jerusalem was built on a hill, and was very easy to defend.  It had been nearly impossible for any army to overcome Jerusalem before David's time. Lamentations 4:12 says, "The kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, that the adversary and the enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem."

David knew that God was on his side; the Jebusites trusted in their idols, which have "eyes, but they cannot see....they have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but they cannot walk." (Psalm 115:5b, 7).  The men of Jebus taunted David.  "We can send out our blind and our lame and they will defeat you."  There is kind of a double-meaning here.  If David said that the idols were blind and lame, then the Canaanites were stating outright that their gods would defend them.  On the other hand, the city was so well positioned that the generals were confident that they didn't need to send their best soldiers, and even the weakest among them could defend the city.

David shot back a similar retort, one that could be taken two ways.  He said, "Whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him reach the lame and the blind, who are hated by David's soul, through the water tunnel."  In essence, the commander-in-chief was telling his generals to gather up all the idols, which David hated, and dump them in the river. They would watch the false gods float out the water tunnel of through the city walls.  In another vein, David was basically telling them to leave no quarter: kill them all, including the weakest men among them, just as God had commanded Joshua 400 years earlier.

Later in the same chapter, after David had set up his headquarters in Jerusalem, the Philistine army came to fight.  They set up camp in the Valley of Rephaim, west of Jerusalem.  They brought their idols with them.  David sought counsel from the Lord his God.  God promised victory.  So David went out and defeated the Philistine army, who fled, leaving their idols behind.  David and his men carried the idols away, either to destroy them completely, or to melt them down and put the silver and gold into the treasury.

Upon defeating the Philistine army, David said, "The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like the breakthrough of waters."  Remember when he captured Jerusalem, and had instructed the army to "reach the lame and blind" at the place where the water broke through?  I think David remembered it.  He re-named the Valley of Rephaim, and called it Baal-perazim, which means "Master (or Lord) of the Breakthrough."

Friend, do you need a breakthrough today?  Take a lesson from David.

1. Seek the Lord's counsel.  You don't want to go against His will.
2. Destroy anything that could stand between you and God.  He will not abide where there is idolatry.
3. Be obedient. Even if it is an uphill battle, be strong and courageous.  The Lord our God will be with you.

It won't be easy.  You will have to fight for it.  You may have to break generational curses, i.e. take ground that has been held by the enemy for centuries.  Keep the faith.  "For without faith it is impossible to please God." (Hebrews 11:6).

Remember whose you are.  Be led by Jesus, the High Priest forever of the Most High God.  You are ruled by the King of Righteousness.  He has prophesied over you, the Prophet, Priest and King.